


Avatars in the Human World

by Cluelesse



Series: James and Leila: Guide to the Human World [1]
Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Baby, F/M, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Multi, Nephilim, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Party, Portals, Spoilers Lesson 41-42, Technology, house rules, surprise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:01:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 30,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28008864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cluelesse/pseuds/Cluelesse
Summary: The Avatars are visiting the Human World!What will happen?This series is a retelling of events that happen in the game. It doesn't follow the story exactly, but it does in general. Spoilers Lesson 41-42
Relationships: Beelzebub (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Beelzebub (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Belphegor (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s), Lucifer (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Lucifer (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Male Character(s), Satan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Character(s), Satan (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)/Original Female Character(s)
Series: James and Leila: Guide to the Human World [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2051451
Comments: 26
Kudos: 8





	1. Baby Born

**Author's Note:**

> From chapter 2 and onwards, this Part contains spoilers from Lesson 41 and 42
> 
> This series doesn't follow the story exactly, but it does in general.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The baby is born!

They've all been restless. My brothers. It started today in the afternoon. After classes of the final day before summer break. Soon we will leave the Devildom for the Human World for the summer. It is still a surprise for James. At first I thought that this was the reason they were feeling like this. Every single one of us wants to go there and see James again. And Leila's nephilim will be born soon. She will join us there as soon as possible.

But this restlessness seems different. I can't really explain it. It started with Mammon. It was barely noticable at first. He was being his scummy self. Trying to scam some newly Elite first year demons, who will join the academy after the break. Sometimes I really wonder how those got into the Elite in the first place. They're all so gullable. But Mammon lost interest at some point, which never happens when he is being succesful in his scemes. But there he was, pacing up and down like he does when he's worried about something. At least he wasn't yelling.  
At home, Belphegor couldn't seem to get comfortable enough to take his after classes nap. Satan couldn't focus on any of the new Human World books he recently bought and was excited about. Asmodeus restyled his hair thirty times before going out, but he returned to the House within half an hour, saying the party was boring. The party to celebrate the end of the RAD college year, at which he is always the center of attention and loving it. Leviathan was not in his room hiding from the world, but was looking for our company. Beelzebub started cooking dinner, but for some reason didn't eat almost everything himself. They're all acting weird and unlike themselves.

They're not fighting with each other, though they all seem irritable and anxious. If that is a word to describe the Avatars? It is like they all share in something, that I don't. I don't feel what they do. So this is not about going to the Human World tomorrow.

**Lord Diavolo <> Lucifer**

< **Lord Diavolo:** Lucifer, I need your advise.  
> **Lucifer:** Is there a problem?  
< **Lord Diavolo:** I'm not sure.  
< **Lord Diavolo:** Barbatos is acting strange

Barbatos too? Hm... That could explain it.

> **Lucifer:** Tell him to visit the House of Lamentation.  
< **Lord Diavolo: (Confused-Demon sticker)**  
> **Lucifer:** You could come as well.  
> **Lucifer:** But I'm afraid, you and I will be the outsiders in this matter.  
< **Lord Diavolo: (Confused-Demon sticker)**

“What is going on?” Lord Diavolo asks me, as soon he and Barbatos arrived. Barbatos immediately went to the kitchen and started a pot of tea. Then started baking. A lot. That is nothing new, but for some reason, he also seems restless. Wanting to do something, while waiting.

“They're waiting.” I answer Lord Diavolo. “I think Leila's labor started and because of their pacts with her, they can feel her emotions that come with it.”

“They can?” Lord Diavolo looks surprised. “I have never heard of that before. That a demon can feel what their human feels.”

“I don't think they are exactly feeling that. But when she made her sacrifice they could feel it in their pacts. They could feel it in their pacts when she made new ones. They can sense her strongest emotions, when she's experiencing them for the first time.”

“Leila is a very unique human to have a pact with, it seems...” Lord Diavolo contemplates.

I frown at him. He has been working hard to gain back our trust. But it is very clear to all of us, that he hasn't let go of the idea that he wants Leila for himself. Maybe he won't be so dangerous for our humans about it anymore, but he is still going after her once she returns. IF she returns, with the Demon Prince still interested in her.

“I would advise, you don't get any ideas in your head, Diavolo.” I tell him sternly. “You can't make a pact with her, because of your position and you can't make her your mate, or even create a nephilim with her, without a pact.”

He smiles at me. “Maybe not. It doesn't change the fact that I'm still interested in her.”

“Don't let my brothers hear you.” I think he is being an idiot with this. “Besides, Leila won't give you any chance to come near her, or her child. The only reason she didn't make a scene last time you saw her, was because of her pregnancy. She will return stronger than ever, proud and furious of what you put her through.”

“Yes.” He smiles even broader. “It only adds to her allure.”

I sigh. I can't exactly disagree. The more powerful and confident she became last year, the more I also felt drawn to her. I almost regret not having a pact with her and being the outsider in this, that all my brothers and even Barbatos share with each other. Then I shake it off. I'm not the type of demon that goes after pacts. But if she asks me, I will accept.

“Dammit!” Mammon shouts around midnight. “Why is it takin' so long?!” He was gradually becoming more restless. The most of them all, even more that Satan and Belphegor. Even if he isn't her mate, he still shares the closest bond with her through the pact. He feels it the strongest out of all of them. He always has and this is no different.

“It's pretty normal for human females to have hours of labor, Mammon.” Satan lectures. He should know, since he's been reading every book that is out there about the subject. Still every one can see he is just as nervous. It must be hard for him and Belphegor to not be able to be with her now. “It can take up to almost two days...”

“Seriously?!” Mammon shouts back, offended. As if he has to endure going through it himself and Satan is to blame. “What kinda cruel torture is that?!”

“It seems that at first it's not that painful, though. I guess we will notice when the real labor starts. And then... Well...”

“Then what?”

“Then it can go either fast or as they say, laboriously...”

“What are ya talkin' about! What's happenin' now isn't laborious?” Mammon asks in disbelief. And continues when Satan shakes his head. “Then what is this?”

“This is preparing the body for the hard work. So it can endure the coming pain.”

They all start cursing.  
And it isn't getting any better after that. Lord Diavolo and I are just spectators to this strange phenomena. Not ever before could demon males know how it is when a female is in labor. And they don't like the sensation. At all. I'm actually a bit relieved I don't have a pact with Leila yet. This looks like it's very uncomfortable.

Lord Diavolo and I can exactly see now, when she has contractions. Worlds away. When during the day it was at random they were all restless and jumpy, now with regular intervals they jump up and start cursing again. Barbatos has stopped baking and cleaning, as apparently he has a hard time focussing on it now. He made us enough treats to last us through the night anyway. Especially now that Beelzebub seems less hungry.

And as the contractions are coming at an increasingly faster pace too and the reactions of my brothers are getting stronger as well. It seems she is in her final stage of labor. But suddenly they all stop. As they were anticipating the next wave of emotions coming through their bonds... Nothing is happening anymore.

“Wh...” Asmodeus asks worried, almost in tears. Is he missing the sensation? Is this a tension release? “I don't feel it anymore? What is happening now?”

But Satan doesn't seem to know either. He just sits next to Belphegor, who seems exhausted but unable to sleep, in silence.

“I'm sure we will hear soon from the Celestial Realm.” I tell them in comfort. “If the baby is just born, I'm sure she can't immediately let us know after what she just went through...” At least, that is what I think. I hope the baby is just born and that everything went well. But this sudden silence from my brothers after almost twelve hours of shouting and cursing is eerie.

**Brothers No More (2)**

> **Simeon:** Fuciler!  
> **Simeon:** Lufecir!  
> **Simeon: (Party-Demon sticker)**

What the hell, Simeon, learn to type... I sigh impatiently. But then I smile, because this is most likely the news we were waiting on! All my brothers and Barbatos crowd around me, so I decide to connect my DDD to the television again.

< **Lucifer:** Give your phone to Luke, Simeon.  
> **Simeon: (Confused-Demon sticker)**  
> **Simeon:** Oh! Oof curse!  
> **Simeon:** Hi Lucifer, this is Luke now.  
< **Lucifer:** Good.  
< **Lucifer:** My DDD is connected to the television.  
< **Lucifer:** Tell us how it is going with Leila, Luke.  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** She just gave birth! Didn't Simeon tell you yet?  
< **Lucifer:** My guess is that he was trying to...  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** Oh, right. I just scrolled up... **(Demon-Shaking-Head sticker)**  
> **Simeon: (Luke** ) Anyway, she has given birth to a healthy girl. She is very tired now though.  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** I will send you guys some pictures.  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** When she wakes up, I'm sure she's going to call Satan and Belphegor. But for now the doctors said she needed to sleep.  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** (Picture of a beautiful perfect baby face)  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** (Picture of the back of the baby, where two tiny golden downy wings are showing, like the fluff of a babychick)  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** (Picture of a sleeping, tired looking Leila, with in her arms her sleeping new baby)  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** The tail has disappeared as soon as the baby was born. So did the horns.  
< **Lucifer:** What do you mean?  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** I mean, she had three little golden nubs that will grow into horns on her head and a little golden downy tail, like the wings. I couldn't take a picture of them.  
< **Lucifer:** Why did they disappear?  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** Because they don't belong in the Celestial Realm, Lucifer. **(Rolling-Eyes-Demon sticker)**

“I swear, that Chihuahua is gettin' way too bold with us.” Mammon suddenly grins. “But what did he mean by that?”

“I suspect that certain features of a nephilim are only showing in the World they belong in.” Barbatos speaks. “Angel wings belong in the Celestial Realm. It could be, that they will disappear or change when the baby comes to the Devildom and then the tail and horns will reappear again, as those do belong in the Devildom. In the Human World, the child will most likely look like a normal human child.”

> **Simeon: (Luke)** I think with age, she can learn to adjust her form, just like we can.  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** I have to go now. We will see you soon.  
> **Simeon: (Luke)** But not too soon. Leila needs to regain her strength first.  
< **Lucifer:** Thank you, Luke. Tell her our congratulations and that she needs to take her time to recover.

“I can't wait to finally see her again.” Belphegor lets out the biggest yawn and sighs in relief. “I'm going to take a nap. I'll see you when we go to the Human World.” And instantly he slumps against Beelzebub and is off in his dreamworld, a big smile on his face.

“Yes, I think we all should take a few hours of rest, before we go up there.” I tell my brothers and they all nod and go their seperate ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure how quickly this new series will update. But at least you got to see a glimpse of the baby now.


	2. Surprise!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Solomon sends James to work a new job

I'm on my way to a job-interview. Solomon has set me up for it. He says I would be a kind of au-pair for a foreign rich family with a bunch of rowdy kids. Which means I have to live with the family. I'm honestly not exactly thrilled to go. It's not that I think I can't handle it. After dealing with my demons, and having magic at my disposal, I can handle this for sure. But Leila could come home soon. And I'd rather help her and her newborn.

But Solomon said he has to go away for a little while. Do a tour around the world or something, to see if everything is in order. It sounded super interesting, to be honest. But I'm still too inexperienced to assist. Or something like that. I guess it makes sense. But yeah...

Anyway, I can't stay in his house when he's away. Or it will turn itself against me, with all the magic he has imbued it with. Too dangerous. At least I also don't have to dodge eating his lethal cooking for a while either.  
Suddenly my DDD buzzes. Yay! Messages from my demons or Leila?

**James <> Leila**

> **Leila:** JAMES!  
< **James: (Laughing-Demon sticker)** You seem happy!  
> **Leila:** I am!  
> **Leila:** James, I'm coming to the Human World in a day or three!  
< **James:** You are? **(Cheering-Demon sticker)**  
< **James:** I can't wait to see you! And little Pandora.  
> **Leila: (Happy-Demon sticker)** She's so cute! I know you'll love her.  
> **Leila:** The doctors said I still need to take it easy for a bit. But after ten days, I should be fit to go traveling around again. Yay!  
< **James:** Fit enough for you-know-who?  
> **Leila:** Oh definitely. **(Threatening-Demon sticker)**  
> **Leila:** If he bothers me again, I blow him into another dimension entirely!  
< **James: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
> **Leila:** I'm gonna go tell Solomon the news! See you soon!

Okay... Seems like she feels strong and healthy and like she learned a lot in the Celestial Realm. I'm actually happy. That takes away a lot of our worries for her coming down to the Human World. But if she feels good enough to take on Lord Diavolo by herself then I believe her.

We haven't forgiven him yet. Solomon, me and Leila. All Lord Diavolo's pretty talk about bringing peace and harmony to the Three Worlds. But when it came down to it, he hunted me down. Was being a stalker to Leila and looked down on Solomon and his knowledge and record as the Human Worlds most wise and powerful sorcerer. And we heard he is STILL interested in Leila.  
Our demons are less bothered by everything, as long as he doesn't do it again and we stay safe. But we humans feel it differently. In our world, all those things are less forgivable. Especially since we were the targets. And because he doesn't seem to be actually sorry for his actions.

But if Leila is ready for it, the three of us can handle him. We have our Rings and our balance, after all. Even if I'm still barely scraping the surface of what I need to learn as Solomons apprentice, I know we can handle anything. Together.

“Hey James! There you are!” I hear Solomon calling behind me. Has he changed his mind about the whole babysitting thing now that Leila is coming home soon? “Sorry for stopping you. I forgot to give you some extra assignments for when I'm being away.” He hands me a huge heavy book with spells and notes. “This is Leila's old studybook. She scribbled all her self-invented spells in it, from the day she was ten years old and became my apprentice. This should help you a lot while I'm being away.”

“Oh, thanks.” I can't help sounding disappointed. “Did Leila message you too?”

“Yes, she did.” He nods and his face is genuinly proud. Like it only is when it involves Leila. “I will make haste with my tour, so that I will be back in time for her arrival.”

“But I still have to do this babysitting thing?”

“Yes. You will have a roof over your head while I'm being away.” He nods with his usual smirk. “And keep up with your homework and assignments, James. It does require a higher level of skill than the assignments you got at RAD... But all of it is elementary, fundamental stuff that every sorcerer needs to know. So keep at it.”

“I promise to work hard!”

“I know.” He pats my shoulder. “You have been for months. I'm proud to have an apprentice like you. Now, hurry to your appointment. I'll see you soon, James!” And then he's gone. He just never does extended goodbyes.

“So this is the adress Solomon gave me...” I mumble when I stop at the gates of an enormous mansion. “Wow, it's gorgeous! I guess I don't mind living here...”

When I ring the doorbell, I hear a familiar sounding voice. “Comiiing! Just a minuuute!” Asmo? Nah, that can't be... But then the door opens and it is him! “James! Welcome!”

I blink at him. Am I dreaming or something? Is this really Asmodeus?

“James?” Wait, that sounds like Beelzebub? I turn around and see my gigantic red haired demon standing behind me. Arms full with groceries. “What are you doing, hanging around outside of the front door?”

“Aren't you going in?” Belphegor walks up to me and gives me a lazy hug, then he pushes me through the door.

Inside are also Satan and Leviathan grinning at me in the entrance hall. Asmodeus flings his arms around me. “Oh, you have no idea how much I missed you! NO IDEA!”

“James, you're so late!” Leviathan accuses me. “I've been hanging around, waiting for you to show up since early this morning, you know?”

“He's not late, Levi. You just decided to sit around waiting all day for no good reason.” Satan tells him how it is. “James is essentially on time. Only 32 seconds late.”

“Ugh, we were supposed to make it back before James got here, Beel.” Belphegor complains as he clings on my shoulder. “Why'd you had to stop at every opportunity to taste something?”

“It's not my fault. I blame all the amazing food they have here in the Human World. Everything looks so good...” He beams, obviously have been enjoying himself.

In the meantime, I couldn't get a single word in myself. So. It's definitely them. Standing out here in the hall with all my rowdy demons surrounding me. I guess this is my baby-sitting job? Yeah, sounds about right... Time to show them who's boss. Heh!

“All of you, stop!” I shout. They all stop talking through each other, looking at me with shock, but they start grinning as I continue my command with a grin of my own. “Now stand in a line, so I can properly hug you all!”

A little later, we're all – finally – gathered in the living room of the mansion. It's very beautiful and bright. I can hardly imagine my demons are living in a place like this after knowing the place they live in the Devildom. As soon as I sit on one of the white leather sofa's, Shado runs up to me. Loudly meowing, probably demanding to be petted by me. I'm glad Leila's cat is still okay. I was worried for him. But I shouldn't have been. When he decides to have been greeting me enough, he moves to sit on Satans lap and curls up in there. He's been taken good care for, I can tell.

“So how long have you been here allready?” I ask them. “It can't be that long, since there's still food and money to go around...” I tease them.

“Just a week.” Beelzebub answers me. “Most of us wanted to let you know right away.”

“Yeah. Just so we're clear, I had nothing to do with this whole 'surprise' idea. Asmo and Mammon were the ones behind that.” Satan tells me with an exasperated sigh, petting the cat. “So if you want to yell at someone for not letting you know, yell at them.”

“Hehe, sowwy...” Asmodeus winks at us as he sits next to me with his arms wrapped around my shoulders.

“Don't you 'sowwy' me!” Satan growls. Being commanded by me the instant I walked into the door was not exactly how he envisioned the reunion, probably.

“But think about it...” Asmodeus ignores him. “We get to spend our summer break in the Human World. This is a special opportunity! What would be the fun in calling him up and tell him that we were here? That would have been no fun at all!”

“I'm not mad about it.” I smile. “You know I don't mind that kind of thing. But just so you know... Leila will be coming back in a few days. I wouldn't advise doing that to her.”

“She's coming to the Human World too?” Satan beams. “That's fantastic news! I missed her so much...”

“Yeah... I bet you guys are curious about Pandora too, right?” I ask, mostly to Satan and Belphegor. “To see her for real, instead of on a picture. I, for one, can't wait.”

“Obviously. Though it's still unreal to know I'm a father, while I haven't even seen my child yet. Is it bad that I am more looking forward to seeing my mate than my child?” Satan asks with a worried expression on his face.

“I think you'll be fine, don't worry.”

“Yeah, it's not like it could be helped.” Belphegor agrees with me. “And I allready know that because it's Leila's child, I'll love her in no time at all.”

We chat about it a little more. Everyone is curious about the baby.  
“But anyway... I'm your hired babysitter now?” I tease them and they all start to protest, so I burst out laughing. “Or is it that I'm hired for Leila's baby?”

“You're not our babysitter. That was Mammons stupid idea. But...We've never actually spend an extended period up here in the Human World...” Levi starts explaining. “At least, not in a way where we have to behave and pretend to be humans...” He ends a bit embarrassed. Right. Demons. They probably did a whole lot of awful things the times they didn't pretend to be human. “We were hoping you could teach us how things work here. So we got in touch with Solomon and asked him if you could live with us again.”

“And Leila too, of course. Now that we know she comes back” Belphegor sighs happily.

“Solomon said that he was fine by that idea. Telling us that he could come over for your lessons.” Satan then shakes his head. “Though I should note that he wasn't too keen on the whole 'surprise' idea.”

“Probably because he worries you will do that to Leila too.” I nod. “You don't want to startle her with your demon ways, after what she's been through. No matter how well it worked out.”

“Yeah, hasn't she been learning celestial magic?” Beelzebub laughs. “Imagine you startle her like this and she uses that on you in a reflex!” Everyone looks at him, shocked by that idea. “What. You all know she often reacts on instinct... And now she has a baby to protect.”

They all start shouting through each other again. Mostly to Asmodeus, because it was his idea. And threatening him to not do it to Leila, as well. Apparently celestial magic is something that demons really fear. In that case, I'm glad she learned it. She wouldn't use it on her own demons to hurt them on purpose, but definitely to defend herself.

“Okay, don't everyone blame me!” Asmodeus defends himself. “I would never scare Leila like that! You know how much she means to me! I just wanted to surprise James, but it was Mammon who really took the idea and ran with it.”

“Oh right!” I look around the group. “Where is Mammon, anyway? Is everything okay with him? Lucifer didn't actually feed him to Cerberus, right?”

“Mammon? Oh, he's good.” Leviathan tells me, but then starts snickering. “Or, wait. At the moment, he's actually not so good.”

They take me to another room – it looks like the new music room – and there he hangs: From a chandelier this time. Upside down, of course. It looks like he's hanging from a strong steel chain. I can't help but laughing. What did he do this time?

“Ughh... Come on, someone get me down from here!” He complains while spinning in the air. “Dammiiit... Lucifer, that bastard... Couldn't he give the whole stringing me up a break while we're in the Human World? I mean, sure. Maybe I shouldn't have gambled away all of our money at a casino as soon as we got here... But we managed to avoid losin' this house in the end, right? C'mon, I haven't seen James in forever. I can't let my human see me in this state...”

“Excuse me? Your human?” I laugh as I stand under him.

“D'aaah! You're allready here? Oy! Who said ya could listen to my private conversation with myself?!” Mammon tries to lecture me, hanging upside down. So it looks pretty ridiculous. Realizing that too, he changes the subject. “Um... Anyway, down to business. It's time for your interview! Ya came here to apply for the babysittin' gig, right?”

“Right. I heard there were a lot of unruly children in this household that need to be whipped into shape.” I look up to him with a serious expression on my face and a twinkle in my eyes.

He growls threatening, hearing that. And so do the others. “Sounds like you're getting too bold around demons here in the Human World, James. Anyway, ya gotta pass the interview. So tell me. Lucifer, your employer, has hidden the credit card of his sweet younger brother. If that younger brother comes askin' ya where it is, what do ya tell him?”

“I keep it a secret.”

“Wh... seriously?! What kind of babysitter would keep that a secret?”

“All of them, Mammon.” I tell him. “That's how it works in the Human World. So, I assume I passed the interview?”

“I would cross ya off the list right now, if this was a real interview!”

“Yeah, you would... But you know, Mammon. These kind of interviews are usually held between the babysitter and the employer. Not the babysitter and the baby...”

“Oy! Who are ya callin' a baby?!” He starts yelling and thrashing, while all of his brothers look on and laugh. “Grr! Get me down from here!”

“Sure thing, give me a moment.” I nod and take the heavy spellbook, that Solomon gave me to practice with, from my backpack. “Let me see if I can find something that can help in here...”

They all come stand curiously around me as I flip through the pages. Wanting to know what it is. When I explain that Leila made all the spells in this book herself ever since she was younger, especially Satan and Belphegor are interested and impressed – which is no surprise, really – discussing the different spells she invented. All the while Mammon is protesting, hanging from the chandelier, telling me to hurry up.

“Okay, so Solomon said I should practice with the spells from this book, and I found a slicing spell...”

“Oy! Are ya crazy?! Are ya goin' to slice somethin'?! THAT'S how ya are gettin' me down? Ya better not misfire!!” In a panic, he thrashes about even more now.

All the others stand around with big wicked grins on their faces. No matter if I succeed or fail, they're going to enjoy the result anyway...

“Hang still, Mammon!” I warn him. “Or do you want me to cut you?” I proceed by casting the spell from the book towards the chain that holds Mammon up. It cuts right through it, like a knife through butter. Nice!

“AAAHH! … Umph!” Mammon falls on the floor in a tangle of limbs and chains. “That hurts. Like, couldn't ya find some other way of gettin' me down?!”

“It's good to see you too, Mammon.” I say, while hugging him. “I really missed you.”

He hugs me tightly back, complaining. “What's the big idea just huggin' me outta nowhere, huh? Ya big dummy... I missed ya too.”


	3. Back Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Half a tour around the Manor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally made sense of the story, so next couple of chapters can be posted quicker. Then it will slow down again. ;)

The guys take turns in showing me their favorite places in their new house. Which apparently is named Serenity Manor. I couldn't help but burst out laughing when they told me the name. I though it was a joke. But it wasn't. This group of rowdy demons named their home in the Human World Serenity Manor! Leila is never going to recover from laughing, when she hears it!

“Have you seen _Summoning of the Shark: The Cursed Magic Circle_?” Satan is showing me the new home theater and we are discussing what kind of movies we both like. “It's a Devildom movie. An action-packed thriller about a shark monster from another dimension that terrorizes a community.”

“No, never heard of that.” I shake my head. “But that sounds like just what I like.”

“We should watch it together some time.” He promises me. “Oh, also. I worked especially hard on the sound system. Check it out...”

“Satan! Satan, Satan, Sataaan!” We hear Leviathan approaching from afar and Satan allready frowns for the coming interruption. “H-Help! It's an emergency!”

“An emergency? What are you going on about, Levi?”

“No time to explain!” He starts pushing Satan out of the theater, making faces at him to try make him understand without having to tell him in words. “Just... There's trouble in the kitchen. Hurry! You've got to do something!”

Satan frowns annoyed, looking at Leviathans facial expressions and then nods. “Fine, I'll go to the kitchen. Happy?”

“Yes! Now go... and hurry!” Leviathan is almost in a state of panic.

“Ugh, I don't believe this...” Satan speeds away and then I'm alone with Leviathan.

We stare at each other. Me confused. Him agitated. What's going on? “So, something bad is happening in the kitchen?” I ask him.

“Something bad? No, I mean... It's nothing major...” Leviathan denies his previous statement that there is an emergency going on. “Sure, you could say something minor is going on, but don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. Hey, have you seen the outside of the Manor allready?” He suddenly says with a big smile. He grabs me by the arm and drags me with him.

He takes me outside to the back. You can't really call it a garden, so large as it is. The Manor, and the grounds that belong with it, are better described as an estate. I feel very luxurious that I get to live here for a couple of months. Did they really buy this place to only live here for a couple of months? I wonder.

“So, this is the pool.” Leviathan shows me with a beaming smile, pulling me out of my thoughts. “It was seriously hard choosing a house for us here in the Human World. Asmo was like 'It HAS to have a pool, or I'm not going'. Then everyone else began making demands of their own.”

“I can imagine how well that went...” I grin.

“Yeah...”He shivers, remembering. “Lucifer flipped and started yelling. I mean, seriously. They're all so selfish! Of course I don't mind having a pool either, but as long as I can see Henry and play games, I'm happy wherever. That's all I need.”

“Oh, you brought Henry? I want to see him!”

“Really? You do?” He beams even more. “You know, you're about the only one who ever asks to see Henry! Let's go to my room, then.”

I look around with wide eyes as I step into his room. It looks exactly like his room in the House of Lamentation! Although slightly more tidy.

“I'm so glad Barbatos created a portal to my own room. Now I didn't have to move anything.” Leviathan tells me and I guess that explains it then. “Because it means that even though I'm in the Human World, Henry and I can still be together.”

“He created portals to your Devildom rooms?” I ask him, to be sure. His room does look a little different. Cleaned up. I know Lucifer made them all do that, before we left and it looks like he managed more or less to keep it tidy.

“Yeah.” He nods. “Oh hey... Dinner's not for a lttle while. We should play some games! I mean, sure. We've been playing online together since you got back to the Human World. But nothing beats a bit of gaming in my room, right?!”

“Right! Let's do it!” I walk towards his gaming station. “Let's see if you got lazy...”

“Allright! Time for some gaming!” He sits next to me in a flash, starting up his computers. “You know, I always have so much fun when we're together. I'm enjoying myself allready, even without gaming.”

“Yeah, I really missed this too. It's been so long, right?” I give him a hug and he starts protesting against my normie behaviour again. But still he hugs me tightly back.

“Ugh, I knew it.” Someone behind us complains in a lazy voice. When we turn, we see Belphegor slouching against the doorframe with his arms crossed. “I figured you'd be here, Levi.”

“Oh.” Leviathan reacts guiltily. “Belphie...”

“You've got a job to do, don't you, Levi?” He steps into the room towards us. “One you still haven't finished?” Oh wow. Lazy Belphegor playing police? What's going on? “Go on, back to work.”

Leviathan let's out a huge disappointed sigh. “Ugh... FINE... James we'll have to game later.”

Belphegor lifts me up from my seat, by my arm with a lazy smile. “Come on, James. Let's go. You still haven't seen the whole house yet, right?” He gestures to the backpack I'm still carrying around. “I'll show you around.”

We walk through more hallways with more doors. Belphegor lets me have a peek in each room, but seems to be on a mission to get me to a certain destination quickly.

“Hey, James...” He suddenly says, standing in front of me, showing me his new Human World outfit. “What do you think of this look? It's not weird, is it? Do I look like a proper human?”

“I think you look great.”

“Really? Thanks...” He smiles slightly. “Do you think Leila will like it? I sort of like hearing compliments from her...”

“I'm sure she likes it, Belphie. Don't worry.”

“... and... which means...” Suddenly I hear snippets of conversation, coming from a room we're passing. I can't help stop for a bit to curiously listen in.

“What's this anyway? Like... Can ya eat it?” That sounds like Mammon, being doubtful.

“Mammon, are you telling me you've never seen an octopus before?” That is Leviathans impatient voice. I can practically see the eye roll. “I mean, it's just like a Kraken, only smaller.”

“Well, it says here that you can boil it, grill it and even eat it raw... as long as it's fresh.” I can imagine Satan saying that, his nose in a cookbook.

“You want to know if it's edible? Well, I could always just eat it. Then we'll know for sure.”

After that, there is a loud scuffle and protests from everyone on the other side of the door. It sounds like they all try to prevent Beelzebub from eating the mentioned octopus.

“Whoa! Hey!”

“Don't eat that!”

“Seriously, don't!”

“Ugh...” That's Satans exasperated sigh as the protesting fades. Apparently they prevented Beelzebub from eating. “You know, if you eat any more of the groceries, we won't be able to make anything at all...”

“James, don't do that.” Belphegor has walked back, after he noticed that I stopped following him. “No listening in on their conversation. Come on. Your room is this way.”

“And here we are... your room.” He smiles, looking around. Apparently they made a portal to my room as well. “Really brings back memories, huh?”

“Nice.” I walk around, checking everything. It's exactly as I left it. only tidied up, because I left a bit in a hurry back then. “I feel like I'm back in the Devildom!”

“Good.” He flops down on my bed. “I want you to feel at home. You're going to stay with us again, right? You and Leila?” He looks hopeful at me.

“I think that was the idea, yeah. I'm sure Leila wants to come too, as long as she has her own space and the stuff she needs for her baby.”

“Oh yeah.” He beams. “We redecorated the entire attic. It's a bigger, fancier space now, just for her and Pandora. We thought we might wanted to do that for you too, but... I think you love your Devildom room just the way it is, right?”

“Yeah, I really like this room. But Leila definitely needed more personal space if she's going to live there with a baby.”

“You know, while you two were away, I came here often to nap. I wanted to nap in her room, but Lucifer locked it for us. We only can get in after she's back... But anyway, being here in this room, made me feel better. But I wasn't the only one. Everybody missed you two, so all my brothers hung around in here as well.”

“Aww poor you.” I tease. “I bet you coundn't sleep a wink.”

He grins. “Yeah, it was a real pain.” He complains some more, but it doesn't sound like he was really bothered by it. “But they're all busy now. I'm off duty, because I helped with the shopping. So, get over here and we can relax together.” He pats the space next to him.

“Sure.”

“Show me that spellbook again?”

We both lie down on our stomach on my bed and flip through the pages of Leila's spellbook. It's so hard to imagine that I didn't know about this part of her life a year ago. And now this part of her life is going to be so helpful to me with learning to understand my own magic.

“She really invented some interesting spells.” Belphegor admires, pointing out some spells I should try soon. “Usually apprentices don't invent spells of their own yet. And at such young age too. She must always have had a real talent for it.”

“I hope I can keep up.”

“Eh, don't worry.” He shrugs. “You have her book, right? And soon you have both Solomon and Leila back, to teach you. Maybe you won't invent spells of your own, but that is actually very rare, you know.”

“It is? I thought I had to learn how to do that too, since both Solomon and Leila can do it.”

“It's rare. Like in our family, we all have our different talents. Levi is the best at summoning magic, obviously. Lucifer and I both have a talent for inventing and casting new spells. Like Leila and Solomon. Only Lucifer is much more powerful than I am. Nobody can break his spells and he has a certain immunity for magic as well.” He frowns, annoyed by that idea and I chuckle. “Satan can invent spells too, but it doesn't come natural for him. He has to study real hard for it, like you. Asmo doesn't invent his own spells, but he is actually a good spellcaster, if he gets his head out of the gutter and stops messing around with peoples feelings. Beel and Mammon both don't really have afinity with magic outside of their own powers and Sins. They can do it, but often mess up.”

“Oh yeah.” I nod, laughing. “I remember the time when Beel made it rain in the kitchen...”

“Hehehe. Yeah, sounds about right.”

We must have fallen asleep soon after, because I dont remember Beelzebub coming into my room and carrying me out of it. Still that is what's happening right now. I look up to him and see him with a big smile on his face. Walking with me through the Manor.

“Oh hey.” He grins down at me as he realizes I'm awake. “Are you awake now?”

“Looks like I am.” I confirm with a wink. “What's happening? Where's Belphie?”

“Oh, you two were both out cold, so I left him in your room.” He answers me. “I had to come get you, but I can't carry both of you. Or at least... Not in a way you would like...” He grins again.

Yeah, both of us carried under his arms like a bag of potatoes... No thanks, this is much nicer.

“So, I couldn't help wondering...” He looks ar me seriously and a little worried. “Is it just me or have you lost a little weight? Have you been eating enough since you got back in the Human World?”

“Honestly?” I answer him. “I had to avoid a lot of Solomons cooking. We had this roster made for chores and he insisted to cook every other day...”

“O-Oh...” He looks at me alarmed, as if I can collapse any moment.

“Don't worry.” I laugh, giving him a kiss. “I've been eating well every other day with my own cooking. And I have gotten pretty awesome with this vanishing spell I taught myself in the very first week.”

He laughs loudly. But then is serious again. “Make sure you eat properly now that you're living with us again. You humans die pretty easily if you don't eat, right?”

“Beel. We can go pretty long without food. As long as we have fluids. I'm not saying it was comfortable going to bed hungry, but I often made extras to sneak into my room for eating the next day. You have taught me a trick or two...”

“Yeah, but still... You definitely lost weight.” He starts tickling me. “Especially HERE! Ahaha!”

I burst out laughing, but still tickle him back in revenge. He's ticklish, just like Belphegor. “You shouldn't do it, of you can't handle it yourself, Beel!” I say, as he's almost dropping me from laughing and squirming.

“Qu-Quit it, James! Ahaha! That tickles! Okay, okay, stop! I won't tickle you anymore! Hahaha!”

“So, where are we going?”

“It's a secret. But first I need to grab some party crackers.” He carries me to the twins room, while I'm wondering about that. There he puts me down. “Wait here for a minute. I find those party crackers and then we get going.

Instead of waiting, I decide to help looking for them. But when I look under the bed, he quickly pulls me away. Under his bed lies an enormous stash of Devildom sweets and treats.

“Oh, um...” He looks at me guiltily. “Don't tell Lucifer about that. We weren't supposed to bring anything from the Devildom to the Human World... I promise to only eat them in my room.”

“I won't tell him, as long as I can have some of it, every now and then.” I tease him and he seems to have to think it over.

Then he kisses me. “Only if we trade, like this.” He laughs. And I laugh too. Seems like a good deal to me...

He takes me to the garden and there I finally see Lucifer as well. “Ah, you're finally here. We were getting pretty tired of waiting on you, James.” He embraces me warmly.

“James, we want to officially welcome you into our Human World house!”Asmodeus dances towards me with a glass of wine. “Say hello to our home away from home... Serenity Manor.”

'Remember, James, Human World alcohol can make you drunk.' I remind myself. And knowing some of my demons, they're definitely going to try, to finally see what the effect on me is.  
Human World wine makes Mammon melancholic, though. He comes stand next to me after drinking some.

“I really wanted to see ya as soon as we arrived, but then we decided to do the whole surprise thing. So I couldn't even tell ya we were here. It was awful...”

I pat him on the back as he hugs me in a very un-Mammon way. “It's fine Mammon. Only one week extra apart, that doesn't really matter, right?”

“But it does!” He shouts. “This last week I've felt like a dog whose owner is holdin' a treat juuust outta reach. Makin' him sit there in agony, waitin' on it... And now I have to wait on Leila too.”

“Only a few more days, Mammon.” I encourage him to hang in there, as he sniffles.

Human World wine has a stimulating effect on Leviathan. He comes bounding towards us and cheerily announces. “I did all the decorations you see out here!” He proudly looks around. “I don't know much about how you decorate for parties here in the Human World, so I did a bunch of research online!”

“And how do you like the Human World internet?”

“It's amazing! I could spend days behind a screen and never see enough of it!” He beams. Yeah, sounds about right, I nod. “I just searched for 'parties' and 'luxury' and some really amazing stuff popped up!” He says in wonder.

“We looked on different cooking sites and apps to learn to cook Human World food.” Satan comes standing with us as he heard the words 'research' and 'internet'. It doesn't seem to have much effect on Satan: Human World wine. “Then we all worked together to prepare the meal. Though we did have Beel leave. He was eating all our groceries, before we could even cook with them.” Ah, so that must have been the discussion I wasn't supposed to overhear.

“Belphie, are you allright?” Beelzebub comes walking into the party, now with Belphegor in his arms. He plops him on one of the couches. “Because your eyes are still closed.”

“Yeah... I'm fine.” Belphegor smiles happily. “It's just been a really long time since I've had such a wonderful nap. I was just basking in the afterglow, that's all.” He accepts a glass of wine that is handed to him, looking at the contents curiously.

“So, everyone has a glass now, right?” Lucifer wants to make a toast. “To our succesful reunion with James here in the Human World. And to Leila joining us soon with Pandora. Cheers!”

“CHEERS!”

“James, have some of this.” Lucifer comes to me with a dish. “I made it myself.” He tells me proudly. “Apparently it's called 'beef stroganoff'. It's similar to the 'flaming hot Fafnir stew' we have in the Devildom.”

I chuckle. No, Lucifer. Eating cow is not remotely similar to eating dragon. But I smile at him and let him believe what he likes. It's pretty adorable, how hard they tried for me.

“It tastes good, Lucifer!” I compliment him and he beams. “Well done.”

“Yo, James! Ya gotta drink some of this!” Mammon holds up a regular beer bottle. “It's crazy good!”

“Well, it seems like a certain loudmouth is calling for you.” Lucifer laughs and kisses me. “Go ahead. But I want to have some personal time with you later.”

I chuckle again and go to Mammon. He hands me a bottle of beer and takes a swig and I do the same. “Ya humans have a whole bunch of interestin' stuff, don'cha!”

It's pretty fun to see them enthousiast like this in my world. I'm used to things in the Devildom now, for the most part. Now it's my turn to teach them about the Human World. I kind of like this babysitting gig!


	4. Human World Technology, Houserules and a Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So much fun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took a teeny tiny bit from Hard Lesson 42 and put it in this chapter.  
> So yeah, read at your own risk. :D

The next morning, I'm practically carried into the kitchen by Beelzebub, where Satan, Belphegor and Leviathan are waiting for me. I wonder what they want from me.

“James, You're finally here.” Satan explains with an eager smile. “We have been waiting for you to show up, before we decided to use these.”

“Yeah, It's been awful.” Leviathan complains. “We've been arguing with each other the whole time.”

“We need you to show us how to use these things.” Satan gestures to the counter, where a bunch of cutting-edge kitchen appliances stand ready. “We found these in the kitchen, so they must be used for cooking. But we're not sure how...”

“We have some Human World appliances in the Devildom, but we've never seen these before.” Beelzebub hold up the slow cooker with curiousity in his eyes.

“Beel actually tried to EAT that, you know?” 

“I thought it might have been a hot pot... And I only nibbled on it.” Beelzebub shrugs, not at all thinking it is weird to do that.

“The pot isn't the edible part of a hot pot, Beel.” 

“I thought it might have been an egg warmer, to hatch the eggs.” Belphegor adds to the conversation with a serious expression and I look at him with big eyes. Is he actually serious? “But do humans really eat baby chicks? That's so sad...”

“Anyway, can you show us what this is used for, James?”

I proceed to show them how to use the slow cooker. “You didn't think of googling it?” I ask and they look at me as if I'm speaking a weird language. “Research online.” I explain further. Obviously they didn't and I shrug.

“... So basically, we just put the ingredients in the pot here and leave them? And it'll make a stew of them by itself?” Satan is very interested. This will leave him so much extra time for reading! 

Leviathan is just as enthousiast. “Whoooa! Human World appliances are so cutting-edge. Epic!” I chuckle, hearing that.

“So it IS a hot pot... I thought so.” Beelzebub nods.

“No, it's a pot that GETS hot, Beel. That's not the same...”

“Anyway.” Satan ignores his idiot brothers and points at the icecream maker. “What about this thing? How do you use it?”

So I proceed to show them how to use it. “Ah! So this is what the instruction manual we found was for.” Belphegor sounds happy. “Don't worry, Beel! We found the icecream maker!” Beelzebub beams, hearing that.

“That's CRAZY! You're saying that this will make icecream all by itself? We don't need to put it in the freezer?”

“That's right.” I nod with a smile.

“Satan, didn't you say this was an appliance for heating up soup?”

“Yeah, he did.” Leviathan snickers behind his hand. “And he was all confident about it too...”

I laugh out loud now. “Aww, SO close!” I tease. “But no, wrong answer.”

“Hmph! Heating or cooling.” He huffs. “Everyone can make mistakes like that, sometimes.”

“Ah, look at him, getting all defensive.”

“We do have ovens and blenders in the Devildom, but some of the appliances here in the Human World are really advanced.” Satan explains himself, sending glares around to all his brothers who are laughing at him.

That evening at dinner...

“Hahaha!” We just told the story of the kitchen appliances from this morning to the others and Mammon all finds it hilarious. 

The others are still laughing with him. Until a roomba slides into the room and they all jump up in surprise, watching the little robot suspiciously as it randomly zigzags about.

“Wh...What is that weird disc thingy?” Leviathan asks and then almost panics as it changes directions and heads straight for him. “H-Help! It's going to attack!”

Don't be a baby, Levi.” Mammon grumbles, but quickly lifts his feet from the floor as it changes directions again, heading his way.

“Curious...” Lucifer looks after it as it changes direction again. “I can't explain it. It creeps across the floor, zigzagging in random directions. From the whirring sound it makes, I assume it must be some sort of appliance...”

“Maybe it's a robotic pet?” Asmodeus also stares after it.

“A pet? What sort of pet?”

“Hmm...” Asmodeus thinks. “A giant cockroach, maybe?”

“Cockroaches have legs, This doesn't.”

I can barely hold in my laughter, as I try to keep a straight face. I'm not going to tell them what this is, because this is too funny! I have to tell Leila about this when she gets here!

Then Shado comes walking into the room after having cleared out his feeding bowl in the kitchen. To see if one of his people are dropping some treats for him during dinner. He sees the roomba whirring around and regally sits on top of it, letting himself drive out of the room. My demons are stunned!

“I don't believe it...” Satan says, with a flush in his face from enthousiasm. “I have seen something like that on DevilTube. Those devices are used by cats to ride around on!”

“Are you sure?” Asmodeus asks him with big eyes. “Are you saying this is a vehicle for cats?”

“To think that they'd actually invent something like that here...” Lucifer shakes his head, unable to comprehend. “Humans really are bizarre creatures aren't they?”

All my demons agree with serious expressions on their faces. And it's too much for me now. I burst out in loud laughing! They look at me indignantly, but I don't care! This is hilarious!!

“MAN this is good!”

It's a few days later. Leila should be arriving today.  
We're all sitting at breakfast in the bright spacious living room of the Manor. It's Human World breakfast and my demons enjoy it thoroughly. They do every morning, like they can't get used to it. Heh.

“Like, whoa! Human World breakfast is CRAZY good!” Mammon laughs, taking a huge bite.

Beelzebub beams, as per usual trying to inhale as much food as fast as possible. But he definitely seems to enjoy this food more than Devildom food. “Yeah, I feel like no matter how many helpings I have, I still can go back for more.”

“Yeah, well you do that everywhere, so...”

Satan is squinting against the brightness in the room, a grumpy expression on his face. And Asmodeus wants to know why.

“What's wrong, Satan? You almost look like you're in pain.” He snuggles against his favorite brother, who doesn't really seem to appreciate it. “Making faces like that when you're so good-looking is a real waste, you know?”

“... It's too bright.” Satan complains grumpily, pushing him away.

“Hm? Are you saying that I'm so radiant that you find it hard to look at me?” Asmodeus fishes for a compliment from him. He will always try that, but it never works. I laugh quietly.

“No.” Satan rolls his eyes at him. “I'm talking about the blazing sun.” He stands up and starts pacing and we can see him trying to suppress his demonic energy. He growls. “Why are mornings so bright here in the Human World?!”

I jump up and grab his arm before he escalates. “Hey, Satan come on. Calm down a little.” It's a command and he looks at me gratefully for it. “What's going on? You're here for longer, but now it suddenly bothers you?”

“Why isn't she here yet?” He starts pacing again. “I miss her and I can't stand it anymore. She was supposed to come, right? What if she's not coming?”

“It's only morning, Satan.” I comfort him. “Don't worry, she'll be here before you know it.”

“Right.” He's taking a deep breath trying his best to calm himself.

Leviathan is sobbing over his food, so now I go over to him. Now what? I really do feel like a babysitter, these past few days.

“Levi, I'm trying to eat breakfast here.” Belphegor is just as irritable as Satan. Maybe also nervous about Leila's arrival? Only blaming it on something else. “Could you please not cry in front of me? You're killing my appetite.”

“But I can't help it... The Human World is so amazing! I can watch late-night anime when it airs!” Leviathan is naming some superlong titles that nobody can follow again. “The Human World is SUCH an otaku paradise that I just can't take is...” He needs to take a deep breath after that, because he almost fainted, saying those long titles in one breath.

Belphegor isn't impressed however, just rolling his eyes. “Levi, could you do me a favor and speak in a language I can actually understand? Thanks!” He demonstratively bites in an extra crunchy toast. A show to not wanting to hear his brother anymore.

“All of you, quit fooling around and eat your breakfast. Now.” Lucifer sighs. “We have things to do, before Leila arrives today.”

“Like what?” I ask curiously.

“First we're going to set up some ground rules. We're going to live with a young mother and a baby for a while.” Lucifer starts. He walks to a whiteboard he had prepared in the living room and takes out a marker and starts writing on it. “We also have to decide who's in charge of cleaning, cooking, laundry... All of that and more. I want everything to go smoothly, so that she decides to stay with us.”

“You think she might live somewhere else?” Satan and Belphegor ask alarmed.

“I mean, she might.” I tell them in all honesty. “She can live with Solomon. Or she can go back to her appartment. It's in another country and still in her name.” They look shocked at me: Another country? That means far away, right?

“Exactly.” Lucifer nods. “We all know that she does what she thinks is best and nobody can stop her when she makes up her mind. Which means, we have to make sure she wants to stay with us.”

“Okay.” Satan nods, prepared to do anything to keep her close. “That's great and all, but how exactly are we supposed to decide all that?”

“How else? We play a game of cards!” Everybody groans as Mammon suggests that. “We say whoever wins gets to pick first?”

“A cardgame for everything takes too long.”

“Oohh, we could have a fashion show! And whoever has the best fashion chooses first How does that sound?”

“That takes even longer, Asmo...”

“Maybe we should do a TSL quiz to decide who goes first?”

“I want to be in charge of the meals.” Beelzebub is offering, but we all know why. It wouldn't be a real chore for him and we will end up starving in no-time.

“You mean you want to be in charge of pinching the food?” Belphegor grumbles, he looks depressed as this seems to be getting nowhere before Leila arrives. 

“Unbelievable...” Lucifer sighs. “You lot really have no shame do you? Each and every one of you just wants to do whatever's in your own interests. This is exactly what I mean by...” He starts a lecture.

But Belphegor interupts him, feeling there's no time for that either. “Okay, how about this... What if we just play rock, paper, scissors? Whoever wins gets to choose which job they want to do and on which day. That works, right?”

“Play rock, paper, scissors so no one has an advantage, huh? Sounds good to me.” Satan also thinks this would be most efficient. The others agree as well

“All right then! Let the tournament begin!” Asmodeus cheers.

“Here James.” Lucifer gives me the marker. “You write everything down for us. And you better stand on some distance. The competition is going to be stiff.”

I look around at the determined faces of my demons. “Um... It's just regular old rock, paper scissors... Right?” I ask suspiciously.

But it isn't. And I'm honestly glad they left me out of the competition.  
A bit later, I have written out the roster for the chores on the whiteboard, while all my demons lay sprawled out on the couches, panting and disheveled.

“I...I thought I was... gonna die there... for a minute.” Mammon wheezes. Now, I know he has a lot of stamina, as he can run for hours, barely breaking a sweat. So whatever just happened here must have been even more intense. I couldn't really follow as it was going with demon speed. I just know the Manor was shaking like there was an earthquake.

“Gr... I can't believe you actually called forth the legendary Rock Giant, Beel...” Leviathan looks at his brother angrily. “Is there anything you WOULDN't do to be put in charge of meal prep? I mean, wow...”

“Well, I had to.” Beelzebub defends himself. “You're the one who summoned Lotan. THAT was going too far.”

“Regardless, we managed to decide who's in charge of what. So all's well that ends well.” Lucifer still looks like he just had a leisurely stroll around the grounds. His hair maybe a bit ruffled, but that's all.

“All is definitely NOT well, Lucifer! Look at the state I'm in!” Asmodeus stomps his foot. 

“Yeah, looks like you're the only one who came out of this unscathed, Lucifer. Though I can barely believe it.”

“Uhhg, this is awful! My nail polish is chipping and my hair is a complete and total mess!” Asmodeus is almost in tears. “What will Leila think of me if she sees me like this?”

“Listen up, all of you. We're not finished yet.” Lucifer stands up after he has given his brothers some rest. “I take it that I don't need to tell you about how serious the next round will be, do I? This is the sort of problem that will test our bonds as brothers...”

They all nod with serious expressions on their faces. What are they up to now?

“Yeah, he's right. We may have managed to decide the roster for the chores, but this is even more serious. We all know that we can't keep doing things like we have.” Belphegor agrees with Lucifer for a change.

Satan agrees as well. What's going on?! “It's a volatile situation, and worst-case scenario, it could erupt in a bloodbath. You better step back again, James. Or you could get killed. Leila would be mad at us if that happened.” He ends worried.

“Well, you're not helpin' things by standing here preachin' about it, Satan. Especially as we all know ya were the one that started the fight that nearly destroyed the House of Lamentation, last time. Remember?” Mammon growls, still tired from the last round.

I have no idea what this is about, but I do as Satan suggested, stepping back from my demons. Deciding to watch what they will do next...

“I never want to go through that again. It was just so horrible.” Leviathan shudders as he does remember, whatever it was.

Beelzebub pounds his fist in his hand. “We need to settle this now, before it is too late. Leila won't stay here if we don't. It's time. Time to decide the bathroom order...”

I blink, hearing that. What?! Seriously? I mean, I guess I'm lucky having my own little bathroom connected to my room. But...

“Ugh... Like this is so stupid. Why don't you all use the bath whenever you want?” Asmodeus sighs. “I mean, really.”

“Shaddap, Asmo!” Mammon snaps at him. “You've got the luxury of a private bathroom.”

“Yeah. And it's not like you let us ever use it.”

“Now why should I let any of you pigs use it?” Asmodeus flicks his hair. “Leila can use it, though. I'll make an exception for her.” He suggestively wiggles his eyebrows. “Speaking of: I have to make myself presentable again, before she arrives.” And off he goes, to take one of his long baths in his private bathroom.

“Back to the matter at hand. It's time to decide the order.” Lucifer says sighing. Obviously not looking forward to it. “I take it you're all prepared for what's to come?”

They all nod and gather for another rock, paper, scissors tournament.

“THIS time, I'm coming out on top!” Leviathan shouts.

After a couple of earthquaking rounds, they all lay sprawled out on the couches again. Panting and sweating. Completely exhausted and disheveled. I'm still not sure what they're doing exactly, but at least we have established the bathroom order for the six of them.

“Belphie...” Leviathan wheezes to a near dead – so exhausted – Belphegor. “I can't believe you actually called forth the forbidden Dark Scepter of Despair. I mean, who DOES that...?” He says with both respect and envy in his voice.

“Well, it's because I won't let anyone else be the first to take a bath, okay...” Belphegor answers with a weak voice, but with a smile on his face, because he had won.

“Uhhgg...”I feel like my insides have been turned inside out...”

Even Lucifer is tired now and panting. “Well, I take it that's settled now? No one has any complaints?” Even if there were, everyone seems to be too tired to go another round anyway. “Good, seems like we've settled this before Leila's arrival...”

Everyone sighs in relieve. But then Asmodeus comes walking back into the room. Refreshed and cleaned up. “Wow, that felt so good. I just LOVE a nice, warm bath!” He beams. Then looks around. “Did you manage to determine the order?”

“SHUT UP, ASMO!” They shout at him collectively and he snickers wickedly.

Then suddenly there is a bright light in the middle of the room in the shape of a doorway. Before anyone can react, Leila steps through it. Calmly, as if she walks from one room into another, instead of tumbling from one World into the next. She holds a suitcase in one hand and her baby in her other arm.

“Hiya guys!” She cheerily greets everyone, as she sees us staring at her. Then she notices the disheveled appearances from all our demons and her face falls. “Have you been fighting?”

“LEILA!” In an instant Belphegor and Satan are at her side, wrapping her up in a tight embrace, that makes her baby protest in her arms, and covering her with kisses. 

She giggles, giving them both a kiss back, but then pushes them away to soothe Pandora. “May I present to you: your daughter!” She shows her to them and now we all come stand around her, looking at her and hugging her more carefully.

Pandora is beautiful. Even if babies somehow always are cute, she is more than that. She has soft golden fuzz on her head, which probably grow out to be much like Leila's own hair. Maybe a little darker. She has big striking grey eyes that remind me of Leila's mother. Only these eyes definitely have some otherworldly intensity. Like the eyes of all our demons have. Her eyes are framed with long dark lashes that any supermodel would be jealous of. She looks around alert in Leila's arms, but she has stopped crying. It's almost like she's curious for the new faces. She's definitely not like a normal human baby.

“You weren't fighting, right?” Leila asks again and they all deny it. I explain to her that they just settled on the new houserules in a demon way. She's not entirely convinced, as she looks around the group when we sit down on the couches.

“You probably don't want to know.” I tell her. “They wanted it settled before your arrival and honestly... You really don't want to know.”

“Yeah...” She laughs a little. “I probably don't.”

Shado comes driving into the room on his roomba and the moment he sees Leila he runs up to her, loudly meowing. He climbs on her shoulder and starts purring and meowing in her ear and she giggles. We all suspect he's complaining about his awful treatment from the past months and that she has to make it up to him. He's curious for Pandora for a moment, giving her one rub with his head as if accepting her as Leila's kitten, but he is much more interested in catching up with his human.

“What was that way of walking in here?” Lucifer asks interested. “It looks much more civilised than the usual way to teleport.”

“Oh.” She grins at him. “Yeah, the usual way is such an unelegant way to travel, isn't it?” Lucifer laughs and nods in agreement. “So as soon as I knew how to teleport, I tried to make it better. At least if I'm traveling on my own. I can't fall out of a portal with a baby, right? That's dangerous.” 

“I'd appreciate it, if you'd show me how to do that.” Lucifer smiles at her and everyone gawks at him. Is Lucifer actually asking for a lesson in magic?

“I mean, I can try.” She starts a bit doubtful. “But I actually used a combination of magic from all Three Worlds... Can demons use celestial magic?” Now everyone gawks at her: She must have been busy up there in the Celestial Realm!

Lucifer sighs. “No, we can't. We lost that ability when we fell. Oh well. I suppose it doesn't matter much.”

“I can probably teach it to James, though. Once he has mastered the basics of teleporting.” She says encouragingly. “And Solomon, of course. I'm still trying to make it work for bigger groups, but so far I haven't managed...”

We sit around, having tea, and catch up with each other for a couple hours more. Pandora seems to be a little angel, even if she's the child of a demon, as she is asleep most of the time. Only complaining once because she was hungry. Everyone instantly adores her, but Leila doesn't want her to go around to be held by everyone. So she only lets me hold her for now. I couldn't be more proud! I'm so glad she's back!


	5. Tour of the House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to catch up.

“I think we all should go change into some clean clothes.” Lucifer says at a certain point. Everyone was still sitting around like they just fought in a war. Maybe they did fight a bit of a war? According what James told me... “And wash up a bit. We will see each other at dinner tonight. No exceptions!” He warns everyone. I think he's happy his whole family is complete again.

Nobody complains as they suddenly remembering the state they're still in, and they go their seperate ways. Satan takes my suitcase, telling me he will bring that to my room and show me around the Manor later. He is just out of the room, when Asmodeus seizes the opportunity to have me al for himself for a bit.

“Allright then! I suppose I should start by giving our new 'babysitter' a tour of the Manor, shouldn't I?” Asmodeus happily wraps his arm around my waist as he kisses my cheek. “After all, this place is as big as the House of Lamentation and we don't want you to get lost. So come on, Leila. Follow me.”

“Okay...” I shyly smile at him. He lifts Pandora from my arms and cradles her carefully as he walks ahead of me.

“Aren't you a little beauty?” He cooes to her as she looks at him with her big eyes. “I'm so glad you're finally with us, little one. But don't you dare start pooping, while I carry you.” He warns her and I giggle. Oh, Asmo. You haven't changed one bit. Not that I mind. I grab my babybag, in case she does start pooping, and follow them.

I did really miss all of them. I was worried that my feeling for them would have changed over the months, but I'm happy that this is not the case. There's nothing I would rather do than spend some quality time with each of them!  
Asmodeus leads me through hallway after hallway. I allready know that the first couple of days I will get lost in this place a few times. How do they even get this massive mansion? It's so beautiful and so light! So not what I expected from demons.

“There are so many doors in this place right? So it won't be easy learning where each of them leads.” He tells me. “But I will show you the most important ones.”

“Yes, like my own room.” I nod. “And James, Satans and Belphies room.” I sum up after that, teasing him by not mentioning him on purpose.

“Ugh, really Leila?” He frowns at me, disappointed. “I'm not even in your list? Well, anyway. Make sure you remember this one here, okay? Because this is the door to my private bathroom!”

“Why should I know that?” I wonder.

“Because I let you, and ONLY you, use it of course!” He sings to me. “Just wait until you see inside. You're not going to believe it!” He opens the door with a dramatic flourish, beaming. “Tadaaa!”

His enthousiasm startles a snoozing Pandora in his arms and she lets out a small cry. He immediately soothes her and eventually she continues snoozing again. I notice that, as soon as we stepped into the bathroom, Pandora's little horn nubs started showing on her head. Three golden tipped little horns forming a kind of tiara. They show as two on her temples above her ears and one on her hairline of her forehead. I wonder how it is possible I can see them now. And I also wonder how they will grow out to be. They look pretty cute now, but I actually don't think Satans or Belphegors – or any of the horns of the adults, really – look cute, exactly. They suit their demon forms, sure, but cute? No.

Asmodeus turns to me, after he managed to let her fall asleep again, grinning. “I have to get used to a baby in the house, sorry. But look at this, Leila. Unbelievable, huh?” He gestures around.

It really is. I look around in the bathroom that looks like an exact copy of Asmodeus bathroom in the Devildom. “This looks just like your bathroom in the Devildom, Asmo!”

“That's right.” He wraps his free arm around my shoulders. “That's because this IS my Devildom bathroom. You see, Barbatos has created portals for us to all our favorite rooms. Like each of our own bedrooms, for example. And of course I needed my bathroom. Belphie requested the planetarium... and so on.”

“Really? The planetarium? I can see the Devildom stars from here?” I smile happily. I always really loved looking at the stars. “But you say that we are technically in the Devildom now?” That might explain the sudden showing of Pandora's horns.

“Yeah...” Asmodeus looks at me, seeing me distracted. “I'm sure he did that not just for himself. But Leila, you're here with **me** now...” He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me real close against him and pouts. “Aren't you just a little bit happy to see me? Because I missed you so, so, so much! You have no idea! Is there really nothing you would like to do to me?”

“Of course I'm happy to see you! I missed you too, Asmo.” I kiss him on his nose. “So very much! I can't wait to go shopping with you again. Show you my favorite sights and shops...”

“A kiss on the nose... What a tease you are.” He interrupts me with a sigh, a little disappointed. “You're still so loyal to your mates. But I'll win you over one day, Sunshine.” He kisses me firmly on the lips, leaving me a bit breathless. “You can count on that. Because I love you. I really do.”

“So there you are. Finally.” Satan saunters into Asmodeus bathroom like he belongs there. “I've been looking for you, Leila.” He's all cleaned up and handsome again and I can feel my heart skipping a beat, as he looks at me with his beautiful eyes and his familiar smirk.

“Ugh, Satan!” Asmodeus face flushes in annoyance as he complains to him. Satan walks straight to him to take his daughter out of his arms. “Why'd you have to interrupt us? Things were just about to get good...”

“Right.” Satan looks curiously at his daughters face, carefully tracing the three horns on her little head, barely listening to his brother. “That's what I thought. Which is why I interrupted you, actually. Or did you forget who Leila's mate is?” He turns to me to show his daughter to me. “Did you notice this, Leila? Her horns are showing.”

“Yeah, I noticed. I think that it might be, because Asmo's bathroom is technically still in the Devildom.”

He nods. “I wonder what else...”

“We're not going to undress her for no reason, just to satisfy your curiousity, Satan.” I cut him off with a laugh. “You get plenty of opportunity, when I let you clean her up...”

A little alarmed by the prospect of having to clean his daughter he looks at me with big eyes. But then he nods, probably deciding that this is one of his jobs as a father too. “Of course. Anyway, I came to get to. You don't need to see the whole Manor right now, Leila.” He wraps his free arm around my waist, forcing Asmodeus to let me go and walks with me out of the bathroom. “We can do that little by little. Right now, there's something else I want to show you. Come on...”

“What?! So you're just going to steal her right from under my nose?!” Asmodeus stomps his foot behind us. “Ugh, honestly Satan! I can't believe you!”

Satan just sends his devilish smirk over his shoulder, as he leads me out of Asmodeus bathroom.

“Don't worry, Asmo!” I can just say before the door closes. “I like to make use of your bathroom. In private!” I add with a cheeky wink.

Satan lets out a loud triumphant laugh, waking up his daughter and she starts crying for real now. Honestly... I roll my eyes as I see his panicked expression. These guys have to learn that there's a baby in the house now, or I won't be living here with her. I take her from him and soothe her. Her horns have disappeared again.

“Honestly, I can't believe Asmo.” Satan complains to me as he takes over my babybag to carry it for me. “I really can't let you out of my sight, can I? Or he is immediately all over over you again.”

“He at least always has been honest about his intentions, right?” I kiss him softly on his cheek. “Don't worry, Satan. As long as you and Belphie don't agree to it, I'm not taking more mates.”

He sighs. “But you want him?”

I shake my head. “Asmo is complicated.” I tell him honest. “I love him, but his Sin makes me not wanting him.”

“How is his Sin worse than ours?”

“It's not. But he can't stay loyal to me.” I answer him and he nods. “I wouldn't want him going against himself. He might end up hating me for it... Yours and Belphie Sins... They don't interfere with your love for me.”

“Yeah...” He wraps his arms around me and kisses me fiercely, but he's careful not to squish his daughter between us. “I can't blame him for loving you. Or even kissing you. I'm just never going to agree on him joining our relationship.”  
After that, he decides that the case is closed again and he leads me to another room. “So, check it out. This is the room I wanted to show you. I have a feeling you're going to like it.”

When we step through the door, my eyes go wide. A huge TV screen is covering one of the walls. In front of it there are comfortable seats, couches and pillows. On one of the sides there's a bar installed and it looks that there's also a gigantic popcorn maker. With Beelzebub living in this house, I understand why it is that big.

“Pretty amazing huh?” I hear Satan proudly say, next to me. I look up to him and see that he has indeed a proud smile on his face as he was looking at my amazement. I nod at him, smiling. “It was my idea to put this home theater in the house. All of the equipment, the acoustics... It's all top-notch.” He beams at me and leads me to the installation on where we can select what movie we want to see. “Last weekend we actually had a zombie movie marathon...” He teases me.

“Oh.” I shiver and he laughs. “Good thing I wasn't here yet, in that case. How long are you guys allready in the Human World?”

“We came de day after Pandora was born.” He kisses me again. “You have no idea how hard it was to wait for you. I'm so happy you could come after ten days, allready.”

“I'm happy too.” I tell him. He pulls me next to him on a couch and I snuggle into his side, closing my eyes as I'm starting to feel a little tired. “I wasn't going to the Devildom, yet. Not before I'm more used to being a mother and not before Pandora is at least a little bigger. I don't feel safe going there with her.”

“Yeah... I get that.” He sighs. “It's hard that we can only see each other for a short time again. But, let's make the best of it.” He holds me close. “Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we reserve this room sometime soon and watch a movie together?”

“That sounds nice.”

“Naturally you pick the movie, or it will be a horror movie.” He teases. “I'll also whip up something nice for us to eat.”

“In that case, you better lock the door, or Beel will end up here too.”

“You want to lock yourself up in a room with the Avatar of Wrath?” He says in a faux-threatening voice and comes very close. I see the familiar passionate fire burning behind his eyes. I giggle softly and cuddle against him again. “I'm losing all my credibility, being around you.” He complains, wrapping his arms more tightly around me, but I can hear he's feeling very happy right now.

“I think your credibility is fine. Unless you show your sweet side to more females since last time I saw you?” I narrow my eyes suspiciously at him.

“Impossible.” He shows me his devilish grin again and then he kisses me in that familiar fiery way that leaves me dizzy and breathless. “The entire time we were apart, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I wanted to hold you in my arms like this. How much longer, before you have learned summoning across worlds?”

“I should allready be able to. Making portals is more advanced and I master that now too.”

“Yeah? So when I have to return to the Devildom, you can summon me and we can see each other whenever we want?” He asks happily and kisses me some more. “Oh, I almost forgot to mention. I went ahead and assembled a collection of movies I thought you'd like. It was fun thinking about what might appeal to you. So, what genre are you into right now?”

“Hmm...” I pretend to have to think about that. “Since I'm going to hang out with strong supernatural beings for the rest of my long immortal life...” I stroke the muscles of his arms gently and I see his mischievous grin as I do that. “Superhero movies, yes.” I nod, “I have to figure out how to keep up with you guys.”

“I think you will do just fine, keeping up with us.” He whispers. “You are equal in powers as Solomon, after all.” Then he turns his expression serious. “Let's watch some Human World superhero flicks here and when you come to the Devildom, we will watch Devildom superhero movies.”

“Sure... Say, Satan?” I ask him, laying my head against his shoulder. “Have you seen any cat documentaries yet?”

“What?! There are documentaries about cats in the Human World?” He jumps up to walk to the search engine. “I **have** to immediately queue all of them and watch them right now!”

I laugh. “You do that, but could you show me where my room is first? I want to rest for a bit...”

He nods and hurriedly picks me, Pandora and the babybag up in his arms and carries us to my room.  
He barely makes time to explain how my attic room is suddenly a cozy appartment. He just shows me everything, helps me put Pandora in her new crib, gives me a quick kiss while putting me under the covers and rushes out of the room again.  
I giggle when I'm suddenly alone. Oh, Satan. You and cats. Always funny. Then I doze off to sleep.

When I wake up, Belphegor is curled up around me. Shado lays sleeping on my pillow above my head. I sigh happily. This feels familiar. How I missed this. I snuggle against him, and he wraps his arms tighter around me.  
But then Pandora starts crying in the other room. She's probably hungry, so I have to go to her. When I try to get up, Belphegor isn't letting me go, however. He's planting lazy little kisses on my skin wherever he can, without having to move too much. His arms wrapped tightly around me and laying half over me, he mumbles I should stay.

“Belphie, let me go.” I shake him and he complains. “She's hungry and needs to eat. I **will** use force against you, if you won't let me go to her...”

“Fine...” He opens his eyes and grins lazily at me, letting me go. “I guess I should not try to come in between a motherbear and her cub...”

“You definitely should not try that.” I confirm as I get up and rush to my baby. “Or you'll end up in shreds.”

I hear him laughing and suddenly he's grabbed me. Dipping me in his arms and kissing me passionately. “Like I'm afraid of you?” He whispers teasingly. Then he quickly lets me go again, before I turn into an actual motherbear. “Allright, allright. I'll come with you and have a good look at her. I barely got the chance earlier.”

Belphegor is actually a good help with his daughter. He wrinkles his nose in disgust, the moment we step into her room: She's stinky and needs to be cleaned up first. But he isn't complaining about it. Instead he takes off her diaper and vanishes everything with a clean-up spell.

“Oh yeah, very convenient.” I tell him, shaking my head, as I look for new clothes for her. She has plenty. It looks like Asmodeus has been on a shopping spree, or ten, for his niece. “You can't do that in public in the Human World, though. Just remember that, Belphie.”

“I'll try.” He grins lazily at me. I fear he probably still will do it that way whenever he gets the chance. It's so much easier for him, after all. He holds her up to see if there's anything dirty left. “She looks really beautiful in the Devildom, Leila.” He says as he admires her, ignoring the angry screeching in his face that she does.

I agree. Her demonic babyform looks adorable. We now can see her tail as well. It's still short and doesn't look like his or Satans tail at all. I guess we can't determine who is her biological father, that way. Instead it looks like it will have feathers, like the wings. The wings, that are golden in the Celestial Realm, are darker in the Devildom. I wonder how everything will grow out to be when she's bigger and gets actual feathers, in place of the downy fuzz the tail and wings are covered with now.

“Now, stop complaining, Pandora.” He tells her sternly, as he puts a new diaper on her. “I'm your father and I wanted to see you.” After he has dressed her in new clean clothes, he tenderly snuggles her in his arms and gives her a kiss. She looks at him with her big striking eyes, almost indignantly, as he does. “You have a temper, just like your mom. I love it.” He hands her over to me with a kiss for me as well. “I think you're right, she wants to eat.” After that he walks out of the room and slumps on the couch. Patting the space next to him for me.

I never expected Belphegor to be so good with her. But thinking about it, it kind of makes sense. He's too lazy to make a fuss about dirty diapers or screeching tempers. He's just going to do his own thing, like always. And it actually calmed her down enough to let her happily drink her milk.  
She stares at him from the corner of her eyes, as she eats. I think that must be a nephilim thing, because I don't think normal human babies try to commit faces to memory like that. Not when they're this young. But it definitely looks like she's doing that. I wonder how fast a nephilim will develop? There is nowhere information to be found about it.

“I'm just going to use your lap as a pillow for a while.” He announces when I have put Pandora on a baby blanket on the floor, after she had enough. He lays down on my lap and looks at me with a happy smile.  
Shado is curiously investigating her now, rubbing his head against her and smelling her, which seems to amuse her. It doesn't seems like my cat minds her, now that she's not making so much noise.

I hum and run my hand gently through his hair. “Sure, Belphie...”

“This feels nice, keep doing that.” He commands me and I laugh a little. Nothing has really changed between us. “Hmm... I love the way your hand feels. So nice and soft.” He catches my hand for a moment and kisses it, looking up to me with his beautiful purple eyes. “I love you, Leila. You have no idea how much. I came here to the Human World, hoping that I could see you sooner, you know. Because I wanted to feel your touch again. Just like this...”

“Yeah... I missed you too. It's been so long.” I agree with him. “But I can't go to the Devildom, yet. I don't want to.”

“I know. And that's fine.” He yawns, content. Closing his eyes. “It's been a long time since I've felt like this. Resting my head in your lap definitely beats napping in an empty bed.”

“You can nap here again whenever you want, Belphie. Just help me with Pandora now. Nothing else has changed.”

“It's a pretty big change, you know.” He snickers. “For us. Last time I saw you, you didn't have a baby yet. For the next one, I want to be there for you, with everything.”

“Next one?” I ask of him alarmed. “We just have this one.”

He grins cheekily and tells me. “There will be more. By the way, I saw this truck driving around earlier this week. It was playing music and someone was selling ice cream out of it.”

“So?”

He looks at me again, a curious expression on his face. “So, what's up with that? Is that magical ice cream? Does your mouth transform into a musical instrument when you eat it or something?” I look down at him with big eyes. Is he kidding me now, or is he being serious? It looks like he's serious as he closes his eyes again with a satisfied smile. “The Human World is a fascinating place. I'd like to get some of that magical ice cream with you sometime, Leila. Just you and I, together...”

As he drifts off to sleep, dreaming about the wonders of the Human World, I make a note to self to cast a spell on his ice cream next time we get some together. I will make my lazy demon sing like a songbird! Hahaha!

That night, I'm asking James if he wants to spend the night in my room, just like the time we were kids. I really missed him and I want to spend some quality time with him to reconnect again.

We're talking deep into the night.  
About his studies with Solomon and how he evaded his cooking, which had me laughing. How Solomon gave him my old spellbook. I'm pretty proud to hear that. I never knew that spellbooks can be given away to others, as they are personal. Like diaries, as it were. But I guess it makes sense: James is my family. I learned magic from Solomons old spellbooks, because I am his family. Maybe Pandora will eventually learn magic with James spellbook? And mine and Solomons. I have to start writing down my invented spells again. I think I can write a whole book with what I learned in the Celestial Realm. It will be good to write it down for Pandora.  
We're talking about my studies in the Celestial Realm and that I wil try to teach him some of that magic too. Though the angels told me that this kind of magic is best learned directly from angels. But I can at least try, right?  
We're talking about Pandora mostly, I just can't help gushing about her and he doesn't mind it at all. Eventually we fall asleep together, just like when we were young. It has been tough, being away from each other for so long, but now all is well again.


	6. Good Morning!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's like the first morning all over again. Almost.

**Leila POV**

“Are you sure they're asleep?” I hear someone whisper in my half slumber. Too sleepy yet to open my eyes, but awake enough to hear them. It's like I'm under a spell.

“Yep. Looks like they are.” Someone answers. I know these voices. “The baby is asleep too.”

“I can hardly believe we have a baby in the family now. But it looks like Pandora is very real... And she's so beautiful.”

“Yeah...” The one voice sounds happy when it answers. “Finally. We're back together again... Beel, don't lean in so close. You're going to wake up Pandora.”

“Hey, you're leaning in really close too, Belphie.” Are they looking at Pandora in her sleep? My motherinstinct is stirred now and I'm waking up fast. It's not that I don't trust Belphegor, but is Beelzebub hungry this morning?!

“It's okay when I do it. I'm her father. She needs to get used to me. And I've used a spell to conceal my presence. Like I've used a spell to keep James and Leila asleep.”

“Not good enough, Belphie.” I manage to say as I open my eyes, sluggishly trying to get up. Dammit! It's like I'm drunk! “Did I hear, you put a spell on me to keep me asleep?”

Beelzebub startles, looking at me now, instead of into the crib that I put temporarely in my bedroom. “Oh, hey.”

“You're up...” Belphegor looks surprised and a bit guilty. “How'd you wake up? I'm sure my spell worked.”

“Don't underestimate the subconscious mind of a new mother.” I tell him, as he comes sit next to me to give me a good morning kiss and helping me up, as I'm fighting against his spell. “I would have heard a mouse if it was in her crib.”

“Well, good morning.” He chuckles in my ear. “That's good to know. At least it worked on James.” He looks at James, still deep asleep.

“Good morning, Leila.” Beelzebub gives me a hug as I get up from the bed. “I didn't really get the chance to tell you yet, but I'm very happy you're back with us again.”

“What are you two doing here, anyway?”

“Well... Looking at you.” Beelzebub answers with a grin, rubbing the back of his head. “And the baby.”

“We were talking about how terrible it would be if you returning to us would have just been a dream, so we came up to your room to make sure that you're really here.”

I smile, giving them both a kiss on the cheek. “I'm really here. Now, remove the spell from James. And don't do that again.” I give Belphegor a warning look.

“Good moooorning, Leila!” Asmodeus comes dancing into my bedroom, instantly waking up Pandora who starts crying in protest. He earns himself dirty looks from all of us for that. “Oopsie! Sorry, Pandora. Beel? Belphie? What are you two doing here?”

Belphegor takes her out of her crib, as I'm still groggy after his spell, and soothes her. “What are YOU doing here, Asmo? What do you want with Leila?” He grumbles, annoyed.

“Me? I just wanted to pop in and see how cute Leila looked while sleeping...” He answers with a beaming smile. “And maybe give her a good morning kiss if I could?” He adds, not making a better case for himself, as Belphegor is outright glaring daggers at him. If he wasn't holding Pandora, right now, he would toss Asmodeus out of the attic room immediately.

“It's a good thing that Belphie and I got here first then.” Beelzebub says, helping James up, who was startled awake as well.

“It sounded more like you were waking us on purpose, though.” James rubs the sleep from his eyes and sits up. “And you have to be more considerate that Leila has a baby now. No waltzing in like that and waking her up, Asmo.”

Then Satan walks in the room. “Hey, Leila. It's morning and I want to...” He stops in his tracks seeing all the people in my room and frowns annoyed. “... What are all of you doing here?”

“Why are YOU here, Satan?” Asmodeus asks him the same question. “You came to plant a good morning kiss on a sleeping Leila, weren't you?”

“Stop confusing me with yourself, Asmo.” Satan walks up to me and gives me a fierce good morning kiss. “But now that you're up, anyway...” He whispers to me with a grin and I giggle. “I just came to wake her up. And I was hoping if I could help with Pandora. I want to learn that as fast as possible. My intentions were pure.”

“Here.” Belphegor puts her in Satans arms. “I'll show you what I did, yesterday. You'll like how she looks in the Devildom.” He tells him with pride in his voice and they both disappear out of the room to give Pandora her morning cleaning.

A bit later, they return with her and give her to me so I can feed her. I'm feeling much more wake now. Satan still looks to be a bit awkward with her, since yesterday. Afraid he might make her cry again? Belphegor sees it too but ignores it and I'm grateful for it: No competition on who is the best father, they're going to do this together.

Then Leviathan also comes walking in. “Leila, Goood morn- Wh... huh? Why is it so crowded in here?”

“Really...” Belphegor sighs irritated, wrapping an arm around me. “Honestly, why are you all so obsessed with Leila?”

“Yeah, that's what I like to know.” I'm starting to get a bit annoyed by this invasion. This looks way too similar to the day after I arrived in the Devildom, a year ago. “Remind me to booby trap my room again, James.”

They all look at each other, grinning a bit embarrassed, when I say that and James grins and agrees to remind me.

“It's just... I haven't seen her in almost a year.” Leviathan explains. “I have allready hung out with James the past couple days, but Leila...”

“It's allright, Levi.” I sigh. “Just don't make a habit of it this early in the morning.”

“If all of us had the idea to drop by, then next up should be...” Satan starts saying.

“He better not be loud.” I allready warn Mammon, who isn't even here yet, but who I expect to be next. And they all snicker.

But it's not Mammon who walks in next, but Lucifer. “Leila, James... Ah, so you're already awake.” He looks around the room with an arrogant glare. “Now, what are all of you doing here? Last time I checked, Leila only had two mates.”

“What are YOU doing here, Lucifer? Hm?” Leviathan defends himself. “You're not her mate either.”

“I just stopped by to let Leila and James know that breakfast is ready. Since it was my turn to make it this morning.” He picks up Pandora from my arms after she's finished eating and holds her carefully in his arms, looking at her with interest. “And I wanted to have a good look at my niece. I haven't gotten a good opportunity to do so, yesterday.” He dismisses everyone with. “So, assuming I've satisfied your curiosity, get down to the living room.”  
He traces her three horns with his fingers, like Satan did yesterday, and turns to me. “Interesting. These features only show in a Devildom environment?”

“Yeah, as soon as I am with her in the Human World parts of the Manor, they disappear.” I answer him. “Or at least, become invisible. I'm not sure exactly what.”

“I suppose it doesn't really matter.” He smiles at her as she looks back at him.

“I'm hungry...” We suddenly hear.

Lucifer frowns, hearing that and turns around. “Then what are you still doing here? Go on.” He shoos the others away, who didn't want to leave my room, yet. “Ah, I almost forgot. Wake up Mammon for me on your way there. He was supposed to help making breakfast, but he never showed up. Bring him down to the living room as well. Use whatever means necessary... Though I do want him alive.” After those instructions, he sets himself in a chair next to my bed, planning to have a bit more quality time with his niece.

James gets dressed and leaves with the others to get Mammon. I quickly get dressed as well and meet with Lucifer in my small living room. He still has Pandora in his arms and I think he looks really soft and gentle as he looks at her and talks to her. It looks like he is happy to meet her.

We sit for a while in silence, looking at each other. As if we are establishing some rules between us, without talking about it. The mutual respect is still there. And something more: I'm his new little sister and he has missed me. I know this. My Ring of Souls makes it much easier for me to read people. It's nice to sit like this, without the chaos of the others. I guess we really are similar.

“Don't worry, Lucifer.” I tell him suddenly, as if I can tell what he is thinking, and he looks at me. “I won't just leave you all and take her with me for no good reason.”

He smiles relieved. “I've tried to prepare my brothers for the new situation, but I'm afraid...”

“I just have to booby trap my space again.” I laugh. “I won't leave in anger, because of them being enthousiast of seeing me again. I find it sweet of them.”

“Well, I suppose it might look that way, as it is your first morning back.” He sighs, shaking his head, probably thinking I will think otherwise about them soon. “Let me know, if you need anything from me and I will provide it.”  
I bite on my lip and he sees it. “You're afraid of something. That's also why you want to stay with us. For protection. Isn't it?”

“I guess.” I admit. “Look.” I show him my DDD with the hundreds of unanswered messages that Lord Diavolo had send me over the time that I was in the Celestial Realm and he frowns. “I just don't understand what he hopes to accomplish here. Isn't it crystal clear that I don't want him? And that this behaviour doesn't help for his dream? I guess I'm not really afraid of him, now that Pandora is here, alive and well. But what if he gets hold of her?”

“What exactly are you afraid of?” He asks me, gently tracing her horns again, as she seems to like that. “That he will claim her, instead of you, as his future mate?”

“Yes.”

He nods, understanding my worry. “Yes. He might. She is a female and just as rare and beautiful as her mother.” He smiles at me. “But he underestimates the mother. He's done that from the beginning. Don't worry, Leila. I will teach you a spell that will help. You are smart and skilled enough to modify it to your advantage.”

“Thank you, Lucifer.” I give him a hug, that he accepts laughing.

“Now, let's get to breakfast, shall we?” He keeps holding Pandora as we go downstairs. Seems he is really proud to be her uncle. On our way down, he teaches me the spell and I immediately know what I will do with it, to provide extra protection for Pandora and myself.

**James POV**

I go with my demons to Mammons room, so that Leila and Lucifer can have a talk, as apparently that is what they both want. I get it, as they both have proud strong personalities, they probably have to get used to each other again. They don't need us to figure that out for them.

Mammon is still asleep. Sprawled out on his sofa, snoring as if he's bringing down a forest. Belphegor rolls his eyes hearing that and I laugh. It would be something for him to look down on the way the others sleep, as he is the expert, of course.

I shake Mammon. “Good morning, Mammon! Wake up!”

“Mm...? Who dis? James? C'mere...” He hugs me in his sleep and is immediately pounced by all his brothers. Pulling us apart.

“You shouldn't have done that!” Leviathan yells and serves him one of his self-invented special moves. “SHABOOM!”

“GUH!” That wakes him up for sure.

Beelzebub starts tickling him and Mammon bursts out laughing.

“Oy! Quit it! AHAHA!”

“You're only getting what you deserve, Mammon.” Satan tells him as he roughly pulls him off the couch to the floor. Head first.

Asmodeus agrees, shaking his head. “Yeah. I mean Pretending to be asleep, so you could cuddle? What an underhanded thing to do.” Like he wouldn't do exactly the same thing, if given the chance.

Belphegor snickers, hearing that. He's done that plenty of times, everyone knows that. But for some reason it's wrong when Mammon does it.

“Grr... I'm gonna kill ya guys...” Mammon rubs his face and gets up from the floor.

“Check it out, we made him mad.” Belphegor yawns in his bored mocking way, but then quickly leaves Mammons room with a laugh. The rest of them follows him, also laughing.

"OY! COME BACK HERE! DON'T YA RUN AWAY FROM MEEE!”

Yup, nothing really has changed. Still a bunch of idiots, Leila would say.

**Lucifer POV**

While I'm walking down to the living room with Leila and Pandora, I wonder for a moment: Why didn't I offer a Deal to Leila? It would have been so easy. A scared human is easy to manipulate. If she is scared for what Lord Diavolo can do to her daughter and I give her the power to summon me... Make a pact with her... Use my powers...

But no, I can't do it like this. Not with her. It's better to not have a pact with her than to lose her respect. I would also lose my brothers respect. All of them. And James. That would be irreversible. She doesn't want to be forced into pact. She would accept me if I ask her, but she would never ask me herself. So proud! Have I met my match in her? A human? I chuckle.

I look at Pandora. Such a beautiful child. She has to grow up to be free in her choices, just like her mother. Unlike myself. I'm bound by my oath to Lord Diavolo. He has my loyalty and allegience. I don't regret making that oath. I had to save Lilith and gave up a lot for making that happen. But look at who it gave me in return: James. Leila. Pandora. Maybe many more? The only stipulation is that my family comes first. He forgot that, a while ago. I had to remind him.

I look at Leila, walking besides me, lost in her own thoughts. I need to protect her. Not because of a pact. Not because she's Lilith's descendant. Our connection is stronger than that now. She's become my new sister. I don't need a pact with her to feel that. Stronger connected to us than ever, now that she's the mother of the child of my brothers. She can handle Lord Diavolo herself, if she doesn't need to worry about her child. So that is what I will help her with.

ALL of Lilith's descendants belong to us. Pandora included.  
It's really not a hard decission: I teach her the spell that can help her and her daughter. For free.


	7. The Market and The Pizzaria

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They won't stand out in the Human World.  
> Nope, not at all...

“So, it looks like you and I are in charge of dinner tonight, James.” Beelzebub beams. “Come on, let's go buy groceries. We can eat something for lunch while we're out.”

We just finished breakfast, and Beelzebub is still polishing off the leftovers, but is already thinking of the next meal. His brothers roll their eyes, not really surprised. Leila looks at him with big eyes, she obviously forgot how much he can eat. But nobody says something about it.

“Yes.”Lucifer nods, reading a paper. “Someone has to go with Beel at any and all times when he goes shopping for groceries. We don't want him to go into a food tantrum in the Human World and we also don't want him to eat us bankrupt.”

Beelzebub scratches the back of his head a bit embarrassed, but doesn't disagree or protest. Maybe both situations already almost happened in the short time they were here. It wouldn't surprise me one bit.

“Sure Beel.” I stand up and gather some shopping bags. “It'll be fun!”

“I already know a good place.” He tells me with a broad grin. “Whether you're in the Devildom or the Human World, outdoor markets are always fun places, huh?”

I couldn't say that I ever thought about it like that, but eh. He is obviously looking forward to it. Like a child that's going to an amusement park.

“Belphie and I headed to the market the day you arrived and...” He sighs, while we are walking on our way over there. He is looking a bit worried.

“And there was too much temptation, not enough money and you still bought too much?”

“Well, kinda... Yeah.” He admits, looking guilty. “I mean, there is enough money. Lucifer gave us a credit card specifically for groceries with a daily limit. But I started eating what we bought on our way home. So even when we bought too much, most of it was gone by the time it reached the kitchen...”

“And you probably also started eating stuff before buying it.” I nod. I know my demon.

“Yeah... I didn't mean to!” He defends himself. “But the creditcard had reached the limit for that day and...” He sighs. “Belphie had to pay what I ate from his own money... So, if that happens today, you have to stop me James! I know you don't like to give us commands, but I don't want to ruin this vacation for everyone. Lucifer's going to take us all back if I ruin it. That would be so sad for Belphie, now he finally has Leila and Pandora again. So... Just stop me, okay? Just stop me!” He looks into my eyes very seriously and I nod.

“I promise, Beel.”

“Good.” He beams again and takes my hand. “Let's go!”

A bit later we're at the market he's picked out. Beelzebub beams with a blush on his cheeks. It's like he feels he has died and gone to heaven. Two things that will never happen to a demon, but here we are...

“Wow...” He sighs happily. “Human World outdoor markets really are something... James, let's make that Human World dish... What was it called... Roast chicken. It's sort of like the roast Roc we have in the Devildom.”

“I mean... I guess?” I laugh. “With a lot of imagination a Roc looks like a huge chicken...” I tease him and he grins. “Let's buy the ingredients.”

“Satan found it on one of the recipe sites he was searching on and made a list for us on what we need. If we buy it, he will help us cook it tonight.” He digs up a list from his pocket, looks on it and makes a beeline to the nearest butcher.

“Hello!” The butcher's loud voice greets us. “What can I do for you?”

“I'll take five whole chickens.” Beelzebub tells him.

“Five chickens, coming right up!” The butcher confirms and starts a friendly chat with his customers as he gets to work. “By the way, you came through here a few times already this week, didn't you? You, and often some other person. You kind of stand out.” The butcher laughs, gesturing at Beelzebubs tall figure and flaming red hair. “Are you new in the neighbourhood?”

“Yeah, so you saw us?.” Beelzebub smiles, looking with interest to what the butcher is doing. “Me, my lover here, and my six brothers just moved here.” He wraps his arm around my shoulder.

“Six brothers? Well, well... That's a nice big family.” The butcher nods approvingly. Probably expecting a lot of customer visits from this new big family and he might be right. Heh. “So what's the occasion? Are you celebrating something tonight?”

“Yep, we are.” Beelzebub beams. “Our little sister came home from being away for a long while, yesterday. She has a baby now. So we are celebrating that our whole family is back together again.”

“A sister too? And a baby? Imagine that!” The butcher laughs.

“She's actually my cousin.” I tell the butcher, to make him more confused. “And the baby's father is one of his brothers... We're not sure which one.”

The butcher stops for a moment with his work, looking very, VERY curious now. “You don't say?”

“Well...” Beelzebub answers him with a snicker, realizing what he must be thinking now. “She's not actually our sister, I guess. We just see her like that. And yes, three of my brothers are in love with her and two of them can both be the father of the baby... She had to go away for a while, because there was a fourth man who wanted her and was very persistent about it.”

“Interesting, interesting...” The butcher goes back to work, shaking his head, muttering. “Youth these days...” Then with his clear voice again, as if deciding that it doesn't really matter if everyone is happy. “Well, congratulations! In that case, let me offer you some advise.”

“Advise?”

“Yep. I'm going to let you in on the secret to a long healthy relationship.” The butcher beckons us closer conspiratorially. “First, you have to respect each other. Second, you each have to let the other live their own life. You can't interfere too much. And finally, you need to stay interested in each other. Do those things, and you'll be good.” He waves us off with a huge grin after having said that, because there was a big line forming behind us, so he moves to help those people.

“Respect... don't interfere too much... and stay interested in each other...” Beelzebub repeats him, counting on his fingers as we walk away to our next destination.“We'll try our best, right James? Human World butchers sure are amazing. They don't just sell you meat here... They also offer secrets to long and healthy relationships.”

I laugh. This was sure an interesting butcher.

“I wonder if we've been doing the three things he suggested...” He frowns a bit worried, looking at me. “What do you think, James?”

They honestly can use some improvement in certain areas, but I decide to not hurt his feelings. He's not a human after all, so he can't have an exact human relationship. And neither can his brothers. “You bet we do!”

“Yeah. I think so too.” He beams, hearing that. “Well then, I guess there's no need to worry, huh? From here on out, we'll always be together.” He wraps his arms around me and gives me a long kiss in the middle of the street.

“Oy! You two!” We hear a familiar loud voice. “Don't kiss my humans on the street like that!”

We see Mammon, Satan and Leila standing behind us. Satan is also kissing Leila, just to tease Mammon, probably. He can't choose which brother he needs to teach a lesson, right now.

“Oh hey.” I say, as Beelzebub lets me go. “Don't make a scene, Mammon.”

“Satan, Mammon, what are you doing here?” Beelzebub asks his brothers.

Satan lets go of Leila, now that he can't tease Mammon anymore. Instead he wraps his arm around her shoulders and holds her close. “It's a long story.” He glares around as a lot of men, who pass by, look at her happy blushing face. Of course she notices nothing of that, like usual. Heh. That might have been the real reason he was kissing her like that.

“Oh yeah, That's right.” Mammon remembers now. “Ya two headed out earlier to buy stuff for dinner, didn't ya? Pretty crazy runnin' into ya like this.”

“You didn't bring Pandora?” I ask Leila.

She shakes her head and smiles. “Belphie wanted to take a nap with her.”

“We were about to grab some lunch.” Mammon throws his arms around both Satan and Beelzebub. “Satan's treat.”

“Excuse me?” Satan shakes him off with a glare to Mammon, this time. “My treat?”

“Eh, c'mon. Ya can handle it right? No big deal, just lunch.”

“I have no intention whatsoever of paying for your meal, Mammon.” Satan probably knows that he will order the most expensive things if it is on someone else's bill. “You have been given your own credit card with a daily limit, just like the rest of us.”

“Mm, lunch...” Beelzebub only heard that part of the conversation, of course and is already beaming.

“Yeah. Satan says there's a restaurant nearby that has good pizza.” Mammon tells him and that makes Beelzebub determined to join. “Ya two are gonna join us, right?”

“You're free to come along if you want, but I'm not footing the bill. I'll pay for myself and Leila. The rest of you are on your own.” Satan tells us as he walks with Leila ahead of us.

On our way to the restaurant, Satan glares around some more to all the annoying men, who still can't seem to get enough of looking at his Leila. Must be hard for him to realize that in the Human World there's even more competition. Though personally I don't think he needs to worry about her. If she can resist Asmodeus for this long, she certainly can resist any average human male.

In the restaurant he breathes out a sigh of relief as he sees that all the waiting staff are female. He starts smiling and begins to tell us a tale, while standing in the doorway.

“This is the place. No doubt about it. This is one of the spots where they filmed the Human World drama _The Twilight of a Great Family_. It's the diner called 'Chronicle', where the female lead worked part-time. You see, one day the male lead shows up to eat and she accidently dumps a bottle of hot sauce on his head, which ends up being the start of a forbidden romance between the two. And then later, during the preview for the next episode, they tease the fact that the two eventually realize that they were childhood friends... though they came from completely different social status... and that they'd promise to MARRY each other some day at the time. Well, apparently this reveal really helped the ratings, which-”

“Yo! Satan! You're turnin' into Levi, y'know?” Mammon shouts from the other side of the restaurant where the rest of us have found a nice booth to sit in. “Are ya comin', or what?”

The waiting staff looks shocked, hearing that name shout through their restaurant and Satan's face flushes. Hurrying towards us he lets Mammon know not to shout his name like that in the Human World.

“Are you okay?” Leila giggles as she gives him a kiss. “Do you need more time to catch your breath after saying all that?”

“Don't tease me, Leila.” He growls at her and laughs. “Or I'll have to punish you.”

“My body can't endure any of your punishments yet, Satan.” She whispers and gives him another kiss. “I healed myself with celestial magic, but it's been through trauma. So, just wait for that okay.”

“Of course.” He pulls her against him and fiercely kisses her. “I'll just save it for later and have to find other ways until then...” He whispers back and starts kissing her all over her face, which makes her giggle.

“Mmm, everything looks so good...” Beelzebub can't wait to eat pizza, and has started munching on the menu like a toddler, which is quickly snatched out of his mouth by Mammon.

We're drawing a lot of attention in the small restaurant. A lot of customers are staring at us. The waiting staff is gathering together and looking at us with narrowed eyes. Quietly whispering to each other.

“Okay you guys, listen up.” Satan starts explaining after having kissed Leila enough. “At restaurants like this one, when they ask you what you want to order, you're supposed to say 'the usual'.”

“The 'usual'? Like, what's that?” Mammon starts looking for the name on the menu and Leila and I burst out laughing. “Is it good?”

“But I wanted to order the ultra-sized seafood pizza...” Beelzebub pouts, looking longingly at the menu.

“Either way, you're supposed to tell them you want 'the usual'. Isn't that right, James? Leila?” Satan is convinced and looks sternly around the table, then looking at us for support. “That's what everyone always says in _The Twilight of a Great Family_.”

“Um...” Leila starts, obviously wanting to be supportive of Satan, but seeing Beelzebubs pleading expression, she decides to give them both what they want. “You have to come here for the first time, like now. You can order your favorite. Then the next time, you say 'the usual'. Which means: The pizza that I always buy when I come here.” She looks hopeful around the faces. And I agree with her on this to help them understand.

“Ah? So that is how it works?” Satan nods as if this was acceptable. “Then let's order and next time we come here, we take the usual.” He waves over the waiting staff, who are openly gossiping about us now.

“Allright, I'm hungry...” Beelzebub tells the waitress and places an order of 5 different pizza's. “To begin with...”

“Allright.” The waitress notes. “5 different slices of pizza...”

“No, no, no.” Beelzebub explains. “5 different whole pizza's. I might need more after that, but I don't want them to get cold.”

She looks at him, like he's crazy, but then shrugs and notes the order. Then she goes back to her co-workers and starts to loudly gossip. We hear laughter coming our way. Our demons look offended by that, but Leila and I can't help but laugh as well.

A little while later, Beelzebub is happily chomping away everyone's leftover pizza and is on his own tenth one himself. Mammon starts complaining that he's eating his pizza, but Beelzebub tells him to just order more.

“Again? Do ya know how many times we've done that already?!” Mammon shouts at him. “Look at how the waitresses over there are lookin' at us. They all think we're bad news.”

“You better be prepared to pay for all of that, Beel.” Satan agrees with Mammon and continues with a threatening growl. “We're not allowed to break the Human World rules, or Lucifer is taking us back to the Devildom. And I won't forgive you, if I have to leave Leila again after JUST seeing her again.”

That makes Beelzebub realize what he's doing. With a sad face he eats the last piece and Satan waves over the waitress to pay for Leila and himself. Beelzebub, me and Mammon have to pay for our own pizza. I think Beelzebub can barely manage. It's good that he has a daily limit on his own credit card as well, like they all seem to have.

“Y'know, Solomon actually came by the Manor earlier. He wanted to know if you were around, Leila.” Mammon suddenly says, as we walk out of the restaurant. “As ya were walkin' with the baby, I told him you'd gone out. So he said he'd wait on ya.”

“But instead you two took me away from the Manor when I returned?” Leila frowns. “I would have liked to see him again.”

“It's because he offered to make us all lunch.” Satan explains. “So Mammon and I decided to sneak off with you. Belphie was going to watch Pandora and hide with her in the twins room. They both probably slept most of the time. And she should be safe from his food, as she's for now only allowed to drink infant formula or breastmilk, right?” He looks at Leila and she nods in confirmation. “Levi was at some Expo he was enthusiastic about and Asmo was out to some beauty salon, but Lucifer was busy and didn't want to come. Or he didn't hear us.”

“Oh... I hope he's okay.” I say worried. “He's going to be pissed, though.”

“Yeah... You guys better prepare yourselves for some Lucifer-level of revenge.” Leila shakes her head.


	8. The Bakery and The Bookstore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Visiting more shops, while not standing out.

**James POV**

“Ah, life is good. I can't believe I actually got to sit in the room where they filmed _The Twilight of a Great Family_ , and eat the very same pizza as the lead character...” Satan's face is flushed with excitement and satisfaction, as we walk out of the pizzeria. “I've done everything I could ever want to do.”

“Weirdo.” Leila mumbles as she walks past him, but she's caught by him.

“What did you say?” He asks her in a threatening way, but there's a laugh in his eyes.

“You heard me.”

“Whew, man... I'm full.” Mammon ignores Satan's following 'punishment' for Leila and rubs his stomach, sticking it out pretending it got much bigger.

Beelzebub is also rubbing his stomach. “That wasn't enough food. I need more...”

Leila looks worried at him, I bet she's thinking that having Beelzebub live in the Human World will make sure that soon the whole world will run out of food and starve, because Beelzebub has eaten it all.

“After all you ate you STILL want more?!” Mammon just never can get used to Beelzebubs black hole of a stomach. It really kinda is hard to understand.

“You've already reached your limit of 250 for the day, Beel.” Satan tells him sternly. “Nobody in the Human World eats for 250 a day... Unless it's in a very fancy place.”

“It's really a lot, Beel.” Leila tries. “Are you sure it's because you're hungry, and not because you liked the taste so much?” She knows it's probably a combination of both, but she's trying to get his mind off the hungry feeling. I also find it a bit worrisome. There used to be a time that giving Beelzebub food could tide him over in between meals, but now it seems he's in a constant state of needing food.

“I'm just going to ask Lucifer if I can have more daily limit, I guess...” Beelzebub says with his sad puppy expression. Looking at his two brothers as if to ask if they can buy something for him.

It doesn't work. Because one of them is Mammon. Too greedy for that. And the other is Satan, who knows a thing or two about tough 'love' for his brothers. Beelzebub has emptied out the fridge one too many times, just before breakfast or dinner, when it was Satan's turn to cook.

“Well, I'm going to take off.” Satan completely ignores Beelzebubs sad expression. “Time to go bookstore hopping. Are you coming with me, Leila?” He grasps her hand and she smiles and nods. “Alright then. You'll have to recommend good Human World books for me.”  
“I was just going to spend some time with you, actually.” She tells him sweetly and makes him blush. “See you later, guys!” They walk away together, and are out of sight within a few minutes.

“So, what are we going to do?” I ask the guys.

Mammon sighs. “Asmo asked me to stop by a bakery and pick somethin' up for him. So I guess I'm gonna go do that now.”

“What did he ask for?”

“I dunno.” He shrugs. “He kept badgerin' me about this thing he wants. Some sorta special dessert, he wants to take a picture of to post on Devilgram. Said people would die when they see it.”

“Bakeries... desserts... Mmm...” Beelzebub starts drooling again. “I'm going with you.”

“Right. Of course ya are, Beel.” Mammon grins and throws an arm around Beelzebubs shoulder in a companionable way. “I thought that ya were gonna say that. You're comin' too, James?”

“Of course!” I smile at my demons. “I'm curious about that dangerous dessert!”

“Allright! Now we're talkin'!”

A little later...

“Yo, Beel. Don't ya dare start droolin' while we're inside the bakery, got it?!” Mammon shouts, as soon as we enter the shop. Alarmed looks from the customers are immediately sent our way.

“Everything looks so good.” Beelzebub sighs happily, but then remembers that he doesn't have any money to spend anymore for that day and his face falls.

“Oy! Listen to me when I'm talkin'to ya!” Mammon shouts. “Why are ya lookin' like ya just got sentenced to life?”

“My money's all gone...”

“Eh? Oh, don'cha worry about that!” Mammon grins wickedly, patting him on the back. “I got Asmo's credit card right here and we're gonna spend ALL of it! Hehehe!”

“Yeah?” Beelzebub beams again. Not at all feeling guilty to eat up all Asmodeus money for the day.

“So, which one is the dessert Asmo mentioned?” I ask Mammon, already looking over by the counter.

“Oh yeah. The one that's supposed to make you die when you see it?” Beelzebub comes standing next to me and I snicker as I see the baker's offended face as he hears that.

“You won't actually die, Beel.” I tell him.

“Asmo just meant it's real pretty, okay?” Mammon rolls his eyes and winks at the baker. “Now, let's see... What was it called again? I think he said it was named after a mountain... A french word... Man, this is drivin' me crazy!”

“I bet he said it's a Mont Blanc.” I help him and the baker nods. Proudly showing her signature dessert to us.

Mannon beams. “Hey, yeah! That's it! Bingo! It's called a Mont Blanc!”

Beelzebub inspects the dessert when the baker points it out for us. “Wow, it looks so tasty. You'd never know it was deadly...” He earns himself an eye roll from the baker, who is about to walk away to help serious customers instead of these lunatics.

“No, Beel... Asmo just meant it was pretty, okay? Get it through your skull.” Mammon rolls his eyes and then focuses on the baker, before she can walk away, and starts placing his order. “What else do we want to buy here?”

“Everything looks so good...” Beelzebub sighs. “I want every single thing here. I want all of it!”

The baker now looks at him with big eyes and open mouth and then turns to Mammon to see what she should do.

“Right on! We'll buy everything!” Mammon nods and winks again at the baker, who shrugs and grins. Best day of her business life, probably. “Asmo's credit card is about to make all your dreams come true!”

I'm not entirely sure I should agree on this. But then again: Asmodeus did give his credit card to Mammon. He should expect the worst.

Beaming and loaded with boxes filled with delicacies, Beelzebub leaves the shop and we follow him out, grinning. All customers and the baker are staring after us. Yeah, I don't know if we were supposed to keep a low profile? But that's just not going to happen!

**Leila POV**

“I have to say, I really like this bookstore...” Satan whispers as we're walking around in a quiet store. “It's quiet and peaceful in here and they have a really large selection of books.” He runs his long fingers along the spines, reading the titles. “Hey, look at this... It's the first edition of _The Night They Covered the Moon in Wasabi_! This was made into a movie, which ended up being banned. They were forced to pull it from the theaters.”

I'm listening quietly to my bookish demon as he tells me all about the books he recognizes and the stories behind them. This is so nice. He's so happy when he's talking about his passions. Even though he's a bit silly, sometimes.

“Oh, and they have every volume of _Crustaceans and Myriapods: An Exhaustive Illustrated Reference Catalog – In Color_! I can't believe what good condition they're in!” He beams over finding a silly series like that and I give him a kiss. He grins at me for that, knowing what I think of him, right now. “Let's head farther inside, Leila. We might find even more rare books.”  
“Is it just me or is this place confusing.” I ask him after a while. “I feel like I'm wandering around in a maze.”

“Yeah, I'm not sure which way we came from...” Satan looks around, distractedly. I know he wants to look for more books, but also wants to know how to get out of here. “I want to say we came from the right... Or left? I think we're lost. Sorry, Leila.”

“It's fine. I'm here with you, after all.” I hug him. “Stay close to me, okay?”

“Of course.” He laughs. “I'm not going to lose you after you just got back to me. These aisles are narrow, though. Let's be careful to not knock anything over.”

“Haha! Like that avalanche of books that happened in your room?” I tease him. I don't think that will happen here.”

“That was a nightmare.” He sighs, looking worried for me. “I can't let that happen to you. Pandora needs you.”

“She needs you too, Satan...” I know he's been doubting himself with her, ever since he made her cry the first time.

He sighs again. “I don't know... I've read so many books about it, but Belphie is the one who got it already figured out. Maybe she's best off with him...”

“I never figured you for a quitter, though.” I tell him sternly. “Not everything is learned from books, Satan. It's new for all of us. And all of us have to learn it. Some things come natural for some people and some things don't. There will come a day when we ask you for information you have found in your research. Belphie was no doubt too lazy to crack open even one book.” He snickers when I say that. I know I hit the nail on the head. “Until then, you have to follow Belphie's lead. It's why she has two fathers, right?”

“Yeah...” Satan puts his arms around me and pulls me close.

“Promise me that you won't quit on Pandora, Satan.” I look at him pleadingly, tears sting in my eyes. Why am I still so emotional? Hormones are so annoying! “She needs you. And I need you. I want you too. I want us to be together. All four of us. All the time.”

“I won't quit on you, or Pandora. Of course I won't.” He kisses me fiercely. “You're mine and I'm yours. And so is she. Isn't that right?”

“That's right. And you better not forget it!” I jump in his arms happily and wrap my arms and legs around him. “Even if she can't stay over in your dangerous room, that doesn't mean you're off the hook!” I kiss him back with the same passion. “My handsome smart demon... I missed you so much.”

He clears his throat, blushing. “If you're going to jump into my arms like that, I can't make any promises on respecting your body, Leila.” He whispers hoarsely, making me giggle. He presses me against a wall and kisses me again. “You're killing me here and I will add this to your upcoming punishment.” He threatens me with that passionate fire in his eyes, but he holds me very gentle. “I love you, Leila...”

Someone is clearing his throat behind us in an exaggerated way. When we look, we see it's the bookstore owner. Tapping his foot and with crossed arms, he frowns at us. He probably thinks we're about to do sexy things in his store on top of his books.

With a jerk of his head he shows us the way outside of the maze that is his store and out of the door. We're allowed to come back again, he lets us know. Just not the two of us together. I can't help giggling, while Satan is feeling extremely embarrassed.


	9. Time for Tea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone wants to have tea this afternoon.

**James POV**

“Heheh...” Beelzebub is giggling, with gleaming eyes, like a little schoolboy behind his enormous stack of pastry boxes. “Heheheheheh...”

We met up with Satan and Leila, just before heading back to the Manor together and he's been like that the entire time.

Satan rolls his eyes and sighs as we walk up the driveway in front of the Manor. “Beel, I've been wanting to tell you this ever since we all met up... Quit laughing to yourself. It's sort of creepy.”

“Sorry... It's just that I'm so happy, I can't help it.”

“And one more thing. What's in that giant stack of boxes you're carrying?”

“ _Evangelina's Pastries_.” Leila reads out loud. “Well, that explains everything. Except where he got the money from to buy it all.”

“Oh yeah!” Mammon grins, holding just the box with Asmodeus one pastrie called Mont Blanc. “Asmo's treat! Hehehe. Y'know, I noticed ya didn't buy anythin', did ya Satan? Which is weird, considerin' ya went to a bookstore. Normally you'd have bought a huge stack of books.”

“Well, stuff happened, so I didn't end up having time.” Satan's face flushes and Leila giggles.

Mammon looks suspiciously from one to another.

“Stuff? What kinda stuff?”

Satan wraps his arm around Leila's waist with a soft smile as she giggles again. “It doesn't matter. But hey, is it just me, or does something feel... Not right?”

“Oy! Don'cha change the subject!”

“No, he's right. Something feels off.” Beelzebub has stopped laughing, when we reach the front door. “I'm getting a weird vibe from the Manor.”

“Yeah, an ominous sort of vibe... Like something terrible awaits.”

“I don't sense anything weird.” Leila tells everyone, but Mammon and I agree with Satan and Beelzebub.

Suddenly the door is thrown open. “Ah! Welcome back!”

“Solomon!” Leila cheers and hugs her grandfather tightly. “I missed you so much! Have you seen Pandora yet?”

Okay, it makes sense that Leila is the only one of us that doesn't sense Solomon's presence as something ominous. Heh.

Solomon laughs about this enthousiast greeting from his granddaughter and hugs her back. “I have missed you too. And yes I have briefly seen her. I'm so proud of you, Leila.” He tells her with a beaming smile, something you rarely see of him. “But when it was time for lunch, Belphegor went with her to his room to feed her a bottle and have a nap together. I haven't seen either of them ever since.”

“I totally forgot...” Mammon whispers as quietly as he can manage.

“I should have known.” Satan nods, looking at his mate happily chatting with Solomon. “He's been waiting for her this whole time.” He sighs. “I guess it makes sense and all, but...”

“What are you still standing about by the door?” Solomon sets his attention on us now. “Come inside! I've made afternoon tea for all of you, as well as some of my special homemade sandwiches and pastries!”

He sounds genuinely proud. I know he likes his own food. But seriously, something is wrong with his senses for taste and smell, for sure. Leila told me once, that she thinks he ruined those senses by being an alchemist for thousands of years. He actually believes that what he makes is edible.  
She immediately tells him she isn't hungry and she can't eat something outside of her diet to not ruin her breastmilk for Pandora. Solomon accepts that explanation without question. Sadly the rest of us can't use that same excuse.

“Um...” Satan starts, looking for an excuse of his own. “It's kind of you to offer, but I JUST had lunch, actually.”

“Ooh, me too! Me too! MAN I'm full!” Mammon quickly makes use of that excuse as well.

Beelzebub looks panicked. Standing there with his arms full of boxes with pastries. “Right, so am I. ...I'm ...f...f...fffull.” He emphasizes his statement with a rumbling of his stomach. Or actually more like negate his statement, but why split hairs...

“Beel, that sounded real weird man” Mammon points it out for him. “Ya really aren't used to sayin' that, are ya?”

Beelzebub looks very unhappy and I give him an encouraging squeeze in his arm. Then Solomon targets me. “What about you, James? You'll join me for tea, right?”

“I suppose I could have some tea.” I smile at Solomon. “I like to hear what you have been up to.”

I got this: I've been living with him for almost a year during my studies. I'm confident I can vanish any and all food he tries me to eat without him noticing it. It has become my best spell. Leila winks at me from beside Solomon and grins, while our demons stand around us, looking confused. Sorry guys, in times like these it's every man for himself!

“Well, okay then... You humans have fun having afternoon tea.” Satan smiles politely and moves towards the stairs, followed by Mammon and Beelzebub, still carrying his boxes. “We're just going to head to our rooms, so-”

“So soon?” A voice like ice is suddenly heard and all three of them freeze. “Do you really think I'd allow you to head straight to your rooms when you all just got here?” There stands Lucifer, with the friendliest smile on his face. A threatening aura surrounding him.

“Yikes!”

“Wow, this is great!” Solomon beams, pouring his tea for everyone but Leila. “I'm so happy that all of you ended up joining me for tea.” Then he goes around with a plate with sandwiches. “I made lunch for just Lucifer, you see. And because no one else was available for joining us, he said I should whip up something for the rest of you as well.”

They all take a sandwich from the plate. I do too. And while I'm pretending to eat it, I actually vanish it in bite-sized pieces.

Solomon looks appreciatively at me as I pretend to eat his food. “I've made plenty, so eat as much as you like!” I see Leila grin behind him, giving me a thumbs up.

“So he decided to get his revenge in the not-so-subtle way...” Satan looks at the sandwich he's holding like he considers if stabbing himself will hurt more than eating this.

Mammon almost chokes on his first bite. “Th... these sandwiches have a real bite to 'em, huh...?”

“My tongue and throat are both on fire...” Beelzebub coughs after his first bite. “What did you do to these sandwiches to give them such a 'unique' flavor?”

“Ahaha! You're embarrassing me with all these compliments!” Solomon beams and Leila burst out in giggles. She gets dirty looks send her way from our demons, but she obviously doesn't care about that.

“Changing the subject...” Leila says, to give our demons more chances to hide the sandwiches they're holding. “Solomon, do you think that James has started to get the hang of proper magic, yet?”

“Not really. Magic is actually pretty tough.” I answer instead of Solomon. “But I have Leila's spellbook now and I did learn some spells by myself.”

“Don't worry, James.” Solomon tells me. “You are on the right track and a quick learner. But you shouldn't expect to learn everything in just a couple of months.”

“Yeah, summoning across worlds involves really difficult magic.” She nods.

“Solomon told me it was easy.”

“Yeah? Well, Solomon's idea of 'easy magic' is stuff that normal people couldn't learn over the course of an entire lifetime.” Mammon says. “Lucky ya got more than a lifetime now, right?” He says, while pouring his tea subtly in the vase with flowers he sits next to.

Satan is hiding his sandwich under one of the couch pillows. “Even so, the fact that Solomon is teaching you means that you should be okay. So don't worry.”

“We know you're working hard at this.” Beelzebub puts the whole sandwich in his mouth and swallows it whole, without chewing so he wouldn't have to taste it. After that he sneakily takes a small pastry from one of his boxes in hopes to get rid of the taste that still lingers.

“Oh, James, Leila.” Solomon says as he enjoys his own cooking. “I've been meaning to tell you. I think it's time you applied for your sorcerer's license. That's why I am also here, actually. I wanted to discuss it with you.”

“Am I not already a sorceress?” Leila asks.

“You are.” He confirms. “But while you were up in the Celestial Realm, you couldn't officially register as one for the Human World. It's just a formality, really. But important.”

“And what about me?” I ask of him.

“Since you are currently apprenticing under me, you can only cast spells in the Human World that I've given you specific permission to use.” Solomon tells me. “Most everything in the spellbook that Leila made, for instance. And of course the spells I have taught you myself.”

He offers more tea and sandwiches for the group, but everyone pretends to be full. But they still hang around to hear what Solomon has to say to their humans.

“There are two types of sorcerer's license. A learner's license, which James should apply to. And a full license, which Leila should apply to.” He smiles encouragingly to the both of us. “I have the utmost confidence that you both will pass. And once you do, the restrictions against using magic in the Human World will be lifted for you. Which means that Leila won't be my apprentice anymore and can take on apprentices of her own. Most likely Pandora, when she's old enough. James will be allowed to practice more advanced magic, like for example the summoning of demons.”

Solomon further explains the details and promises to file in the applications for us. I have a feeling that apprenticing under Solomon himself, will give us an advantage no matter what. – Not that Leila needs any advantages – He is basically the ruler of the Human World magicians. Even if it's a secret society, he is still their king. And Leila is his heir. And I am her family. Wow. I never knew I had these kinds of important connections.

At a certain point, Leila leaves us to go look for Pandora. It is time to feed her. We all say goodbye to her and continue the informative conversation with Solomon. Most of it she probably already knew, anyway.

**Leila POV**

  
After I have picked up Pandora from the twins room, – She was so cutely snuggled up in Belphegor's arms that I first took a picture of them both sleeping, – I go back to my attic room to feed her.

The moment I step through my doorway, I know that something is not quite right. I'm not in my room. Or even in the Human World anymore. I look around in a large room with a lot of doorways. I can sense Barbatos magic here. This must be his room in the Demon Lord's Castle!

Right... I guess the spoiled Prince wants to see me, now that I'm not in the Celestial Realm anymore. I figured that it would happen sooner or later. And that he would use Barbatos to make it happen. I guess it happens now. He better be ready for me... Because this time, I'm not a scared pregnant girl. This time, I'm a motherbear. I cast my modified spell over Pandora.

It's best that I don't touch any of those doorways. Who knows where, or when, they will send me? I decide to sit on a chair to feed her and wait. I'm sure Barbatos will come and get me soon.

“So you're already here? I wasn't expecting you so soon.” I hear the obnoxious voice of the tiny Little D of Greed I met last year. Apparently it was here waiting for me and just comes out of a closet it was rummaging around in. No doubt trying to steal something. It climbs up my leg to sit on the armrest of the chair. “So, this is the little kid I heard about? Ugh, human kids sure are ugly.”

I glare at it. “Have you looked in any mirror lately?”

“Ahaha! So defensive!” It laughs. Then it suddenly looks startled and hops off the chair and runs towards one of the doorways. “Ah! I almost forgot! I was supposed to let Mr. Barbatos know as soon as you arrived.” And it's out of the door. “Mr. Barbatooos! Leila's here!” I hear its squeaky voice ring in the hallways. I guess Barbatos will be here soon.

“Not so loud, Number Two.” Ah, see? There he is already. He steps into his room and bows to me. “Welcome, Leila. This is perfect timing. Would you mind helping me out a bit? I'd like to prepare tea.”

We walk together to the Castle's kitchen, talking all the way and catching up. I'm not mad at Barbatos that I'm suddenly in the Devildom now. This was probably not his idea.

“I'm really happy to see you, Barbatos.”

“Why, I'm honored you would say that.” He gives me a fond smile, as we are making tea and sandwiches. “We haven't seen each other since you went to the Celestial Realm. I'm glad to see you are well.”

“I'm in the Human World now. You should come and visit me some time.”

“I would like to.” He nods. “Human World tea varieties are rare in the Devildom. And I would like to sample different pastries and such.”

“I promise I will treat you, once you decide to visit. It will be a fun day out.”

“I'm getting excited just thinking about it.” His face lights up in a genuine smile. “But for now... I'd planned to go get you as soon as everything was ready, but I suppose I miscalculated the timing a bit.” He chuckles softly. “I apologize for connecting your room to mine. I'm afraid my Lord has requested your presence for his afternoon tea, today.”

“I figured.” I scoff. “And no doubt he thought this was the best way to go about it, instead of sending an invitation, like a normal person.”

He chuckles again. “Would you have come, if he invited you like a normal person?”

“No.” I admit.

“That's what he thought.” Barbatos nods. “I think it's time you explain to my Lord the rules on how to treat you and yours, wouldn't you agree?”

“Yes.” I agree.

“Excellent.” Barbatos smiles fondly at me. “I know you're ready for it, Leila. Let's have some afternoon tea together.”

“Leila! I'm so glad you could make it!” Lord Diavolo comes bounding over to us as soon as we step into the Castle's garden and walk towards the gazebo near the pond. His arms spread wide, as if he wants to hug me, he continues with his jovial smile. “I've been looking forward to seeing you again.”

“Stop right there, Lord Diavolo.” I tell him as I hold up my hand.

My forcefield, combined with Barbatos powers, stops Lord Diavolo in his tracks and freezes him. Not in the way like I did by accident the first time. That way we made sure he can't remember. This time, he just literally can't move, but is very much aware of what is happening. I have been practicing on this in the Celestial Realm, much to poor Luke's annoyance...

He looks at me with big surprised eyes. Probably did he not expect to feel a sensation like this ever in his life.

“Let's make one thing crystal clear.” I tell him. “There will be NO hugging me, until I approve of it.” With that, I release him.

He just chuckles amused. Probably feeling entertained by me all over again. I sigh inwardly. This is going to be tiresome. “Please, have a seat. I'm glad to see you look well.”

His eyes look over me in a very intense and very inappropriate way. I now know what the look in those golden eyes mean: desire. And it doesn't make my heart skip a beat, like when Satan looks at me like that. Or soft and mushy in my stomach, like when Belphegor does. Or even shy, like when Asmodeus looks at me like that. It doesn't give me any pleasant sensation, at all. It just makes me frown at him. But I do take a seat.

“It's so quiet here in the Devildom without you, James and the brothers.” He complains. I guess I can understand why he thinks that. “Quiet and boring.”

“Lord Diavolo.” I tell him, as I sip my tea that Barbatos had poured. “You can't just summon me here to the Devildom, so that I can entertain you for tea.”

“Oh, but that wasn't my intention at all!” He lies to me and I narrow my eyes at him. “Well... Maybe a little...” He admits after that. “I also wanted to see your child. Can I hold her?”

“No.” I simply say.

He looks at me with surprise. “Why not?”

I sigh. Is he really that daft? “You have been stalking me, while I was pregnant with her. You went way too far with your interest in me. You are still acting like a stalker by summoning me here without asking. Do you know what is done, at the very **least** , in the Human World when someone is being stalked?”

“No?”

“Well, since you wish to learn more about the Human World, I will tell you.” I smile serenely.  
“The stalker will get a restraining order.”

“And what is that?” He asks curiously and very interested.

“Basically, by law the stalker is not allowed to come near their target, or they will be punished.” I tell him and he laughs jovially.

“Ahaha! And that really works? That punishment must be something else, then!” His eyes shine with amusement and I roll my eyes. Admittedly a restraining order isn't always that effective on the real crazies. “My sweet, beautiful Leila. I AM the law in the Devildom.”

He comes closer to me, but I'm not cowering. He's surprised by that, sitting straight again and looking at me suspiciously. He can tell I have something to back myself up – I have been studying in the Celestial Realm, after all – and he won't walk into a trap that can hurt him with celestial magic.

“Right.” I nod, taking one of Barbatos tasty sandwiches. Admittedly I was a bit hungry back at home, but I really couldn't eat Solomons sandwiches. These here are delicious.

“I won't hunt you down, like I did before, Leila.” He tells me and he does sound genuine. “But I am going to be honest with you: I'm very much still interested in having you. The beauty and power that radiates from you is more alluring than ever.” He growls longingly. And again, it doesn't sound like Satans growl, that can make me shiver with anticipation. It sounds more annoying to me. But I try to keep a composure of disinterest. “And if your daughter turns out to be as marvelous as you, then I am also going to be interested in her...”

“Right.” I say again, polishing off my sandwich and admit to him as I look into his eyes. “I was worried for that, actually. Which is why I designed a protection spell for her. A restraining order of sorts, specifically designed for you.”

“You did?” He seems not at all offended. Flattered, maybe? What a weird guy.

“I did.” I confirm with a smile. “If you touch her, before certain requirements have been met, then... Well... You'll see....”

“Interesting... Interesting...” Lord Diavolo's eyes glitter with amusement. It's almost like the prospect of punishment excites him. Okay, he's a demon, but still. Then he asks me. “May I test that out?”

Instead of answering, I stand up and walk with Pandora towards the pond. He follows me curiously and moves to stand before me as if trying to block my path. “You better be prepared for the backfire effect.” I just warn him.

His back is turned towards the pond and I don't stop him as he reaches out one finger to stroke my little Pandora's cheek.

But as soon as he comes too close, there is a bright flash of Celestial Light and Lord Diavolo is launched backwards into his pond with so much force that he doesn't have time to transform to save himself. With an enormous splash, he lands in the middle of the pond, scaring all the wildlife away.

I burst out laughing and Pandora lets out a little happy cry when she senses me so happy. As if she's cheering for me. Aw, isn't she the cutest?  
Barbatos stands next to me. Barely keeping the smile from his solemn face, he's looking at his Lord in the pond who is looking at me, dripping wet and stunned. Barbatos just says dryly. “Oh dear.” Which only makes me laugh harder.

_**Earlier this day...** _

  
_“You may have heard that I locked up Belphegor in the attic, back when it was James' first year in the Devildom.” Lucifer tells me, as we make our way towards the living room. I nod and he continues. “I know you don't know all the details about what has transpired back then. You chose that to keep an open mind about each and every one of us and I am grateful for that.”_

_“I know you're all demons and not nice people by nature.” I tell him. “James and I are exceptions, because we share a unique connection with you. Besides. It is in the past. It's not good to ruin the future by looking back to the past.”_

_“Exactly, you are family.” He confirms. “But that is not what I want to tell you right now. I kept Belphegor locked up, by placing a certain spell on the door. Nobody but me could open the door. Unless certain requirements had been met. The requirements were that six members of my family must agree on opening the door. I thought that it was ironclad, since I personally would never agree on that. Eventually it turned out that James was a member of my family and that him having the pacts with my brothers gave him their permission. And that is how the door unlocked without my agreement.”_

_“Releasing Belphegor.”_

_“Yes. I want to teach you this spell, Leila. Modify it so that you add your own requirements, your own effects and use all the magic that you have learned from the Three Worlds. And I'm confident that Pandora is the most protected little female in all of the Three Worlds.”_

_He proceeds by teaching me this spell and I immediately know what I will do with it. I will modify this spell to work with my forcefield and imbue it with celestial magic. It will be something unbreakable for a demon, no matter how powerful. And I am the only one who is able to take it down._

“So...” I start, when Lord Diavolo has emerged from the pond and Barbatos has conjured some towels for him. “What do we think of my restraining order, that I designed for you?”

Lord Diavolo laughs in his jovial way, taking off his coat to wring out the water. I sure hope he's not going to completely undress in front of me. I'm sure Barbatos will stop him, before that time, though. And I have to admit, it's quite admirable of him to have such a sense of humor.

“I think it is amazing! A show of your powers and talents! It makes you so much more desirable to me, Leila.” He says in his enthusiastic way and I roll my eyes. “But down to business... You said something about requirements? May I ask what those are?”

“Of course you may ask!” I smile a friendly smile at him, feeling confident about my protective spell, I don’t have to fear his advances anymore. He looks at me surprised and intrigued. “That is actually something you might like, Lord Diavolo.”

“You sure are a strange female, Leila.” He says confused, while drying his hair with a towel. “You don't seem to be mad at me, at all.”

“Oh, don't get me wrong. I was furious with you for the longest time. And if you treat me or my family like your toys again, there will be consequences for sure. But I feel like we need to start with a clean slate.” I look at my baby, who has started to snooze in my arms. “You see... I really do admire that dream of yours. To bring peace and harmony in all Three Worlds. Wouldn't that be perfect for my little nephilim?”

“It would be, yes.” His voice is warm and sounds genuine. I can hear he really does mean to create that future.

“So...” I start to reveal my requirements. “One of the requirements that must be met is that there actually is peace, harmony and understanding between demons, humans and angels. Between all Three Worlds...”

He is stunned again. He was in the middle of taking off his shoes to let the water out, but now he's looking at me with big eyes, he whistles between his teeth.

I laugh and admit to him with a cheeky grin. “It might take a couple of several hundred years, probably.”

“Right. And say that this requirement is met at a certain point in the future. What is the other one? Or more?”

“Either me, or ALL my family must agree that the restraining order can be lifted.” I simply say and he whistles again. “So, you have some work to do. Because some of us are definitely not convinced you should come near us, after all that has happened last year.”

“So, my Lord. It sounds like you have work to do, correct?” Barbatos smiles. “Have you been making any progress on the work you already have, that was the result of last year's destructive effects on the Three Worlds?”

“After this many months, you would think so, wouldn't you?” Lord Diavolo sighs. “But it's so much, I feel like I'm making the opposite of progress.”

“Are those effects still rippling through the Three Worlds?” I ask them. “Solomon didn't mention much about it to me. Neither did the angels.”

“You could see it as the aftershocks of an earthquake.” Barbatos explains, a patient expression on his face. “Even if there are no new occurrences, the effects are still going. I imagine that nobody wanted to bother you or James with this. Being occupied with enough work of your own.”

“Don't worry, Leila.” Lord Diavolo tells me, seeing my expression. “The effects are slowing down, clearly. I'm just having trouble staying on task. Have you ever experienced anything similar?”

“I mean, I guess...” I admit. “If it is all mostly paperwork and nothing exciting... I think a lot of people would have trouble with that.”

“See, Barbatos? So it's not just me! I told you..” Lord Diavolo looks at him in triumph, but Barbatos just shrugs in a very subtle way. “So, tell me Leila. You reunited with Lucifer and his brothers in the Human World, didn't you? What is it like, living with them there?”

“Obviously I'm happy to see them and live with my mates again.” I start and I see him getting a frown, but I don't care. I don't have to be considerate of his feelings if he wasn't for mine. “Though I feel they have a lot to learn, before peace and harmony is established...” I end with a sigh, shaking my head. Both demons burst out laughing when I tell them about what happened today in the several stores we visited. And how the humans reacted to that.

“Ahaha! I love it! I can see it now, almost like I'm right there!” Lord Diavolo laughs. “That makes me want to join you up there, but Barbatos won't let me.”

“I mean... Shouldn't a king stay with his kingdom?” I ask him.

“Solomon travels over all Three Worlds.” He counters me. “Learning much more about them, than he would have, staying in one place.”

“Yes.” I nod. “I suppose that's true. But Solomon is no official king of any Human World country.”

“But he is known as King Solomon the Wise amongst the Human World magicians, isn’t that right? Basically their ruler.”

I shrug. I guess, if you want to look at it like that.

“As I've told you several times, once you have made sufficient progress on your work, you can visit the Human World.” Barbatos tells his Lord sternly. “And it sounds like more work has just been added to your workload.”

“See what I'm dealing with?” Lord Diavolo looks at me with a sad puppy expression, but I just shrug. Not my problem, right? “It just never stops!” Then he and Barbatos receive a series of messages. “Oh, It's a message from Lucifer.” His face falls. It can't be all friendly in that text.

“He says he wants us to send you back now, Leila.” Barbatos confirms. “Apparently your mates are becoming restless.”

“Oh.” I nod, understanding. “They don't know about the spell I placed on Pandora yet. It's best that I return and go tell them, before they tear the place apart.”

“We will start working soon on meeting your requirements, Leila.” Lord Diavolo promises me, but I'm not sure I want to start on that yet. Though I did promise him a clean slate, so I nod. “There's still so much I want to talk to you about.”

“We'll have to do this again sometime, Leila.” Barbatos smiles.

“Sure.” I tell them. “Just send me a proper invitation. And I can travel on my own, so remove the portal from my room and don't do that again.” I command my demon and he bows with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to give Lord Diavolo another chance. Even if he's obviously not sorry for his actions.  
> Let's see what he will do with it, shall we? hahaha!


	10. Don't Anger the 'Motherbear'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're just a bunch of idiots again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly written thanks to Fallingunderground13, who gave me the inspiration to use the song...  
> So...  
> Don't blame me ;)

**Leila POV**

We're all sitting at dinner and I tell them about my kidnap-adventure and the protection spell I placed on Pandora. They all think it was a good idea and reassure me that they won't ever agree on removing it, before I myself agree on it. I also tell them about the clean slate I offered Lord Diavolo and why. They don't see the point in that. I doubt most of them see the point in bringing peace and harmony in the Three Worlds. Luckily Solomon and James do understand this and support me.

“So you're sayin' that Barbatos is forcin' Lord Diavolo to work all the time?”

“When he saw us off as we left for the Human World, I remember that he looked like a puppy whose owners had just abandoned him.” Belphegor says with a satisfied smirk. “It's his vacation, but he's stuck in the Castle... That's sad.”

“I don't feel sorry for him.” I shrug. He's a spoiled Prince in my eyes and some hard work will do him good.

“Okay everyoooone!” Asmodeus cheers suddenly, probably having enough of the boring subject, or realizing I don't want to talk about Lord Diavolo anymore. “Your attention, please! On the way home from the nail salon today, I noticed this café nearby just finished renovating. The grand opening is tomorrow!” He announces. “So does anyone want to come with me? I'm telling you, it looked like a fantastic place!”

“Ugh, MAN that sounds boring. Pass.” Mammon complains, but to me it actually sounds fun! I smile happily at Asmodeus and he winks at me. But before I can say anything to him, I get distracted.

“Belphie and I are going to an all-you-can-eat restaurant tomorrow.” Beelzebub beams, still finishing the leftovers from the pots on the table. “I can't wait!”

“Oh, my gosh!” I look shocked at Belphegor's wicked smirk. “You can't be serious! They're going bankrupt!”

“Yeah... That's possible.” He nods with an evil grin and I narrow my eyes at my mate. “I can't cancel, though. I already promised Beel I'd go with him.”

“Ugh! You're so evil!” I give him a dark look that tells him he can sleep in his own room tonight, but he just laughs.

“Leila, you'll come with me, right? Come on, you have to!” Asmodeus hugs me from behind. He noticed I wanted to say yes and can't stand it that I'm distracted with something else now.

And just because I can't stand Belphegor's smirk right now, and also because I want to see that café, I say, maybe in a bit of an exaggerated way. “Ooh, I'd love to go with you, Asmo!” And see Belphegor's smug face change into anger. Serves him right!

Asmodeus immediately plants kisses on me. “Hehe, you're so cute, Leila! I love that you don't try to hide how much you adore me. You're dying to spend more time with me, aren't you?”

“Of course, Asmo.”

“Don't worry, 'kay? The feeling is mutual!” Asmodeus sings, receiving deadly glares from Satan and Belphegor.

“You better keep your hands to yourself.” Belphegor growls, but I'm not sure if he says it to me or Asmodeus. He doesn't need to worry, but he should know that I'm still not just going to be okay with all their evil ways.

Asmodeus ignores him as per usual. “Oohh, by the way, the name of the cafe is 'The Angel's Halo'!

That rings a bell for me. But I better keep it to myself. I'm not sure his enthusiasm will hold if I don't and I actually really want to go.

When we're finished eating and I'm about to leave the room, suddenly a tail wraps around me and I’m being pulled in someone's arms, who starts giving me kisses in my neck. “Leila.” Belphegor whispers. “Don't be mad with me. If I promise to not let Beel eat all-he-can-eat, can I sleep in your bed tonight?” He turns me around and gives me his cute smile. But I also see the mischief in his eyes.

“Sounds like blackmail to me, Belphie.”

He smirks. “Yeah... It sort of does, doesn't it? But I mean it. I don't want you to be mad, so I won't let the restaurant go bankrupt. Is that better?” I nod and he kisses me passionately and then he complains. “The things I do for you… I'll see you later then...”

“I'm still going to that cafe with Asmo, tomorrow!” I call after him, but he just waves over his shoulder, going up the stairs. I guess he isn't too worried about that anymore, now that he's allowed back in my bed.

If only he didn’t ruin it all again not so long after this… So bad, that I think it might be best if I just go to my old apartment with Pandora, for her safety.

**James POV**

After dinner, Leila is hanging out in my room with Pandora. We've put out a soft blanket on the floor where she lays, looking around with her beautiful grey eyes. The lights in my tree are fascinating, apparently. Shado lies next to her, purring. The vibrations are coaxing soft happy sounding cries from little Pandora. It really looks like this 2 weeks old baby has the mind of a two months old baby. She seems not strong enough yet to react like a two months old baby with her body, however.

Leila and I are discussing her development and mostly about how proud Leila is with her. She is just radiant. The Celestial Realm did her good.  
Suddenly my DDD starts chiming in the way that I know it's my spyware activated. Leila looks at me curiously, so I give it a look. My eyes go wide and I tell her. “Um... You better not know this one...”

“Okay.” She nods and keeps playing with Shado and Pandora. I really admire how easily she can suppress her curiosity. Obviously because of her years of training since childhood. I know she's curious, but she doesn't show it. Though I can tell she is extra alert, reading my facial expressions when I continue reading the messages.

**The Demon Brothers (7)**

< **Asmodeus:** Satan is a friend,  
< **Asmodeus:** Yeah, I know he's been a good friend of mine

< **Satan:** Do you want something from me, Asmo?  
< **Mammon:** Sounds like he's about to ask ya for money.

< **Asmodeus** : But lately something's changed  
< **Asmodeus:** It ain't hard to define

< **Satan:** You better not start discussing Leila in here...  
< **Leviathan:** LOLOL This is definitely about Leila.  
> **Lucifer:** Don't do this, Asmodeus. **(Sighing-Demon sticker)**

< **Asmodeus:** Belphie's got himself a girl and I want to make her mine

< **Belphegor:** Seriously? You're actually going to do this?

< **Asmodeus:** And she's watching him with those eyes

< **Satan:** I swear, Asmo... **(Threatening-Demon sticker)**

< **Asmodeus:** And she's lovin' him with that body, I just know it!

< **Leviathan:** Well DUH! We all know that! They made a baby, didn’t they.  
< **Mammon:** Oy! Don't talk about my human like that!  
< **Satan:** Shut up Mammon!  
< **Belphegor:** Shut up Mammon!

< **Asmodeus:** And he's holding her in his arms late, late at night

< **Belphegor:** Well, obviously.

< **Asmodeus:** You know I wish that I had Satan's girl  
< **Asmodeus:** I wish that I had Belphie's girl

< **Belphegor:** Too bad for you.  
< **Satan:** Asmo! I'm gonna kill you!

There is a distinct slamming of doors elsewhere in the Manor. Some angry yelling too. Leila looks at me with big eyes, but I can't tell her this, right?

< **Asmodeus:** Where can I find a woman like that?

< **Beelzebub:** I don't think there are more females like Leila.

< **Asmodeus:** I'll play along with the charade

< **Belphegor:** You are? I haven't noticed. **(Rolling-Eyes-Demon sticker)**

< **Asmodeus:** That doesn't seem to be a reason to change

< **Satan:** You better stop now, Asmo! **(Angry-Demon sticker)**

More slamming of doors. Sounds like Satan is actually looking for Asmodeus to kill him. Pandora starts to get fussy with all the strange noises and I can see that Leila is getting irritated.

< **Asmodeus:** You know I feel so dirty when they start talking cute

< **Leviathan:** You? Feeling dirty? ROFL  
< **Mammon: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
> **Lucifer:** Asmodeus. Stop this nonsense.  
> **Lucifer:** This is highly inappropriate.

< **Asmodeus:** I wanna tell her that I love her, but the point is probably moot

< **Belphegor:** Yeah, probably...  
< **Belphegor:** I'm going back to sleep.

< **Asmodeus:** 'Cause I want her watching **me** with those eyes

< **Belphegor:** WHAT THE HELL!

< **Asmodeus:** And her lovin' **me** with that body, I really want it!

“ASMOOOO!!!” Satan's roar of anger is heard from the entire Manor. It startles Pandora and she starts crying.

“What the hell?” Leila asks, as she tries to soothe her.

< **Leviathan:** LOOOOOL  
< **Leviathan:** #RIPASMO

< Asmodeus: And **I** want to hold her in my arms late, late at night.

More doors are slamming. And some terrible curses that vibrate through the entire Manor can be heard and felt by everyone. Sounds like Belphegor is very much awake now and actively looking for Asmodeus as well. He's better hiding himself well.

< **Mammon:** Oh yeah. He's dead.  
< **Mammon:** If even Belphie gets out of bed for this.  
> **Lucifer:** I swear, If any of you destroy the Manor... **(Threatening-Demon sticker)**

< **Asmodeus:** You know I wish that I had Belphie's girl  
< **Asmodeus:** I wish that I had Satan's girl

< **Mammon:** Ya better be well hidden Asmo.  
< **Leviathan:** Yeah, They're coming for you. **(Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
< **Mammon: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**

< **Asmodeus:** Where can I find a woman like that?

< **Beelzebub:** Is there something else in the fridge, other than the stuff that Solomon made?

I can't help burst out laughing. Beelzebub just doesn't care, when he's hungry! Hahaha!

< **Asmodeus:** A woman like Belphie's girl  
< **Asmodeus:** I wish that I had Satan's girl

Leila looks less amused, though. Pandora is really upset about all the noises and curses going through the Manor, which is practically shaking on its foundations, while her two fathers are hunting down her uncle. She can't be soothed by her mother. Even Shado is hiding under my bed and is hissing and growling.

“That's it.” Leila tells me, sticking out her hand. “Show me that phone.”

“I'm sorry...” I stand my ground. “It's really best if you don't...”

She looks at me sharply. We're immediately in a staring contest and we both know that whoever wins gets to see the phone. We've done this countless times ever since we were kids. It's never to say who wins. But this time, I'm going to win. It's going to be bad for all of them if she sees this.

She sees it on my face and narrows her eyes at me. “Fine. Watch Pandora for me, James.” And out of the door she goes.

Oh crap. Good luck guys! I take up Pandora and start singing a soothing song for her. Poor baby. She's really upset. I can imagine why Leila is so angry. Shado climbs on my shoulder and starts meowing to her, as if he's singing as well. He's really starting to like Leila's baby.

< **Asmodeus:** Where can I find a woman...  
< **Asmodeus:** Where can I find a woman like that?

She's already looking for you, Asmodeus. And it won't be sexy when she finds you...

< **Asmodeus:** And I'm lookin' in the mirror all the time

< **Mammon:** Ya don't have to tell us that.  
< **Leviathan:** **(Rolling-Eyes-Demon sticker)**

< **Asmodeus:** Wondering what she don't see in me

< **Beelzebub:** Yeah, I don't see anything else in the fridge...

I chuckle and shake my head. That Beelzebub...

< **Asmodeus:** I've been funny. I've been cool with the lines

< **Mammon:** Nah, ya ain't.

< **Asmodeus:** Ain't that the way love's supposed to be?

< **Satan:** You know nothing about love. Where the hell are you?!  
< **Leviathan:** YEAH! WHERE THE HELL ARE ALL OF YOU?!  
< **Leviathan:** IF I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, I SWEAR: I CURSE ALL OF YOU INTO OBLIVION!!

Several shocked demon stickers appear. Looks to me like Leila stole Leviathans DDD to see what is happening, and she is pissed.

< **Mammon:** Uh, Levi? Bro?  
> **Lucifer:** What is happening now? **(Angry-Demon sticker)**

< **Asmodeus:** Tell me, where can I find a woman like that?

< **Belphegor:** I swear, Asmo. You're dead when I see you next.  
< **Beelzebub:** Shouldn't all of you be more worried about what was just texted?  
< **Mammon:** Yeah, I don't think that was Levi...  
< **Leviathan:** Um... You guys. I think you're all dead.  
< **Leviathan:** Leila just took my DDD and read all of it.  
< **Leviathan:** She's practically on Celestial fire right now and looking for all of you...  
< **Leviathan:** She said something about scaring Pandora...

Yup, like I thought. At least the noises in the Manor have instantly calmed down now, so Pandora let herself easily be soothed again. She really is a cutie, snuggling up to a purring Shado like she does now. I'll take a picture of it to send to Leila. Maybe this will calm her down a bit, so she won't actually curse her demons into oblivion. Heh. Maybe only curse them. Or let Lucifer lecture them for 5 hours while making them hang upside down from the ceiling.

< **Asmodeus: (Scared-Demon sticker)**  
< **Asmodeus:** Someone hide me better!  
< **Belphegor: (Shocked-Demon sticker)**  
< **Belphegor:** Right. I'm going back to the Devildom.  
< **Satan: (Shocked-Demon sticker)**  
< **Satan:** I'll join you.  
> **Lucifer:** Allow me to propose you hide in the Demon Lord's Castle.  
> **Lucifer: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
< **Mammon: (Laughing-Demon sticker)**  
< **Beelzebub:** I'm staying in the Human World **(Eating-Demon sticker)**

Oh Beel. Sometimes you really are the best. I smile fondly at his last response. So cute.

After a while, Leila comes back to my room. It looks like she has been crying. She picks up Pandora, says goodnight and goes to her own room. Nothing else. Something feels wrong. I know she hasn’t fully recovered emotionally from her pregnancy and I’m sure this scene the guys just made over her didn’t help with that. I hope she isn’t thinking of leaving...

**House of Lamentation (old) (8)**

> **James:** Guys, what happened?

I know what happened, but I have to keep up appearances, right? Let’s see if they can be honest…

> **James:** Whatever you did earlier, scared Pandora and Leila is very upset.  
< **Lucifer:** The idiots started a fight over her.  
> **James:** Seriously! What did I tell you about that?!  
< **Satan:** I’m sorry.  
> **James:** Do you WANT her to leave us?  
< **Belphegor:** Of course not!  
< **Asmodeus:** It’s my fault. I’ll apologize to her!  
> **James:** Yeah, you should.  
> **James:** You better leave her alone for now, though.  
> **James:** In the meantime, I’ll see what I can do...  
< **Lucifer:** Yes. It seems apologies work best with her, after she had time to calm down.  
< **Mammon:** Ya better make sure she won’t leave us!  
< **Beelzebub:** James is not the one who has to work for that.  
< **Beelzebub:** It’s all of us.  
> **James:** If she leaves, I’m going with her.

Everyone protests, but I don’t care. They know how important she is to me. And right now, she needs me more than they do. She needs all of them too. But not if they start acting like this. I will talk to her tomorrow morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song: Jessie's girl  
> Artist: Rick Springfield


End file.
